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MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 


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MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 


BY 


HON.  BARTLETT  TRIPP 

Ex- Minister  to  Austria,  and 
Head  of  the  Samoa  n  Commission 


THE    TORCH    PRESS 

CEDAR  RAPIDS  IOWA 

1911 


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'V  7 


c'opyright  1911  by 
The  Torch  Press 


THE    TORCH    PRESS 

CEDAR   RAPIDS 

IOWA 


FOREWORD 

During  the  first  administration  of 
President  McKinley,  in  1899,  troubles 
arose  over  the  government  of  the  Sa- 
iijoan  Islands  in  the  Southern  Pacific. 
The  Berlin  Treaty  of  1889,  entered  into 
by  the  English,  German,  and  American 
governments,  under  which  officers  liad 
been  named  and  a  government  sought  to 
be  established,  had  proven  unsatisfac- 
tory to  all  parties,  and  an  insurrection 
arose.  Hon.  Bartlett  Tripp,  of  Yanl^- 
ton.  South  Dakota,  who  had  been  Min- 
ister to  Austria  under  President  Cleve- 
land, headed  a  commission  of  represen- 
tatives of  the  three  governments  named 
through  whose  efforts  peace  on  the  is- 
lands was  established  and  a  permanent 
government  given  to  them.  Mr.  Tripp 
here  gives  the  first  full  and  comprehen- 
sive account  of  the  entire  situation,  and 


222670 


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it  is  felt  the  publication  of  the  same,  in 
this  form,  will  be  found  pleasing  to  the 
many  who  have  an  interest  in  a  region 
made  famous  by  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son. 


MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 

ON  the  10th  of  April,  1899,  I  re- 
ceived a  telegram  from  Wash- 
ington inquiring,  *^Will  you  go 
as  Commissioner  to  Samoa?"  Being 
free  from  engagements  and  not  knowing 
what  was  expected  or  required  of  '^a 
Commissioner  to  Samoa, ' '  but  influenced 
by  a  spirit  of  adventure  inspired  by  the 
brief  telegram  of  inquiry,  I  promptly 
answered  **Yes,"  and  commenced  im- 
mediate investigation  as  to  where  Samoa 
was  and  what  occasioned  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Commissioner  thereto.  I  did 
not  care  to  have  it  known  that  I  was 
utterly  ignorant  as  to  the  geographical 
position  of  these  islands  or  the  history 
of  events  which  had  so  suddenly  culmin- 
ated in  an  international  High  Joint 
Commission  to  restore  peace  and  estab- 
lish a  provisional  government  thereon. 


8         MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

I  was  enabled  to  plead  confession  and 
avoidance  when  I  found  upon  consulting 
my  geography  that  these  islands  were 
known  when  I  was  a  student  and  until 
a  comparatively  recent ,  date  as  the 
^* Navigators  Islands/'  and  I  was  still 
more  encouraged  when  upon  apparently 
casual  mention  of  the  troubles  in  the 
Samoan  Islands  I  found  that  others 
with  whom  I  conversed  were  as  ignorant 
as  myself  of  their  location  and  of  the 
trouble  existing  there.  I  commenced  a 
careful  search  of  the  current  events  pub- 
lished in  the  periodicals  and  magazines 
of  the  day,  but  before  I  had  fairly  in- 
foimed  myself  of  the  extraordinary 
events  which  had  led  to  the  appointment 
of  such  a  commission,  and  relying  upon 
the  usual  time  of  at  least  a  month  in 
which  to  prepare  myself  with  geogra- 
phical and  historical  information  as 
well  as  to  place  my  business  matters  in 
shape  for  an  indefinite  absence,  I  was 
startled  by  a  telegram  from  the  Secre- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA  9        ^^ 

(^ 

tary  of  State,  receivedr^on  the  13th  of 
April,  1909,  inquiring  whether  I  could 
be  ready  to  sail  from  San  Francisco  on 
the  19th  for  Samoa.  My  ignorance  of 
everything  connected  with  Samoa  had 
now  excited  my  curiosity  to  the  consent- 
ing point  of  answering  yes  to  any  tele- 
gram that  might  be  received,  and  an 
affirmative  reply  was  accordingly  sent. 
How  could  I  close  up  my  business  mat- 
ters at  home  for  at  least  a  five  months' 
absence  and  reach  San  Francisco  to  sail 
April  19th?  The  journey  alone  from 
Yankton  to  San  Francisco  would  con- 
sume five  days,  and  I  must  take  the  next 
day's  train  at  the  latest  in  order  to  reach 
there  in  time.  On  the  next  day  and  just 
before  I  was  ready  to  leave  for  San 
Francisco  another  telegram  from  the 
Secretary  of  State  advised  me  that  the 
other  members  of  the  commission  would 
not  be  ready  to  sail  from  San  Francisco 
before  April  25th,  and  in  the  meantime 
it  was  deemed  advisable  that  I  should 


10        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

come  to  Washington  for  instructions. 
To  reach  Washington  and  return  to  San 
Francisco  in  time  to  sail  April  25th  I 
would  be  obliged  to  take  the  next  east- 
bound  train  from  Yankton,  but  I  had 
now  become  so  accustomed  to  answering 
yes,  that  I  again  wired  in  the  affirma- 
tive ;  put  my  business  affairs  in  order  as 
far  as  was  possible  in  the  few  hours  al- 
lowed me,  and  took  the  noon  train  on 
Saturday,  April  15,  for  Washington, 
where  I  arrived  April  17  at  6  o'clock  p. 
m. 

On  April  18  I  called  on  the  Secretary 
of  State  and  the  President ;  talked  over 
matters  pertaining  to  Samoa,  sup- 
pressed my  ignorance  of  current  events 
as  much  as  possible,  and  obtained  all 
necessary  information  as  to  pending  in- 
ternational complications,  solutions  de- 
sired, and  in  general  my  duties  and  pow- 
ers as  Commissioner. 

On  the  18th  Secretary  Hay  kindly  en- 
tertained the  members  of  the  commis- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        11 

sion  at  luncheon  at  his  home,  where  I 
met  my  associate  Commissioners  for  the 
first  time,  Baron  Speck  von  Stemburg, 
Imperial  High  Commissioner  on  the 
part  of  Germany,  and  C.  N.  E.  Eliot,  C. 
B.,  Royal  High  Commissioner  on  the 
part  of  Great  Britain.  The  only  re- 
markable thing  we  discovered  about 
each  other  at  our  first  meeting  was  that 
none  of  us  smoked  or  made  use  of  to- 
bacco in  any  form.  We  congratulated 
each  other  upon  the  possession  of  one 
virtue  in  common,  and  after  a  delightful 
luncheon  and  a  pleasant  hour  of  conver- 
sation we  bade  adieu  to  our  host,  Ms 
charming  wife  and  family,  and  imme- 
diately repaired  to  our  hotels  to  prepare 
for  the  long  journey  before  us.  I  took 
dinner  and  spent  the  evening  at  the 
home  of  Senator  C.  K.  Davis,  where  I 
met  Edwin  Morgan,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed my  private  secretary.  Col.  Sav- 
age, author  of  My  Oficial  Wife,  and 
other  guests,  and  on  the  morning  of 


12        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

April  19  at  10  o'clock,  I  left  Wash- 
ington by  the  Pioneer  Limited  for 
Chicago  and  San  Francisco.  We  were 
of  course  besieged  in  Washington  by  the 
usual  number  of  newspaper  reporters, 
photographers,  and  snap-shot  fiends,  as 
well  as  by  interested  friends  who  al- 
ways expect  to  be  taken  into  the  confi- 
dence of  every  man  holding  official  posi- 
tion, but  we  found  no  trouble  in  escap- 
ing with  a  few  meaningless  interviews 
and  references  to  artists  where  our  faces 
could  be  found  reasonably  well  nega- 
tived. Mr.  Eliot  was  obliged  to  go  to 
New  York.  Baron  Sternburg  would 
follow  me  on  the  next  train,  and  so  with 
the  expectation  of  meeting  again  at  Chi- 
cago, or  Omaha,  Ave  left  Washington  by 
different  routes  on  our  way  to  the  dis- 
tant islands  of  Samoa.  I  had  hoped  to 
meet  my  wife  in  Chicago  and  to  travel 
with  her  as  far  as  the  junction  of  the 
roads  between  Sioux  City  and  Omaha, 
but  on  my  arrival  in  Chicago  a  telegram 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        13 

informed  me  that  the  Missouri  River 
had  broken  its  banks  and  ovei'flowed  the 
bottoms  between  Yankton  and  Sioux 
City,  which  would  interrupt  travel  be- 
tween these  places  by  rail  for  several 
days,  or  perhaps  weeks,  so  after  a  day 
spent  in  Chicago  I  went  on  to  Omaha, 
where  I  met  Baron  Sternburg  who  had 
just  arrived  via  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western road.  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Mor- 
gan, however,  having  gone  to  New  York 
were  not  to  arrive  until  the  next  morn- 
ing. Baron  Sternburg  and  myself  oc- 
cupied opposite  sections  of  the  sleeping 
car  from  Omaha  to  Ogden,  and  we 
talked  about  every  subject  except  Sa- 
moa, and  so  pleasant  had  been  the  jour- 
ney that  we  were  quite  surprised  when 
we  f oimd  ourselves  emerging  from  Echo 
Cailon  into  the  great  valley  of  Salt  Lake. 
At  Ogden  a  group  of  friends  from  Salt 
Ijake  City  met  me  and  insisted  on  my 
remaining  over  for  a  visit  to  the  **City 
of  the  Saints,"  where,  when  I  was  a  lad 


14        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

in  the  early  sixties,  upon  our  overland 
journey  from  Omaha  to  Sacramento, 
California,  I  was  stranded  for  the  win- 
ter, and  where,  being  out  of  employment 
and  out  of  money,  by  permission  of 
Brigham  Young  I  opened  a  school  which 
proved  so  successful  that  on  my  return 
east  from  California  in  1864  I  was  per- 
mitted to  teach  again  for  two  winters. 
Many  of  the  present  prominent  men  of 
Utah  attended  these  schools,  and  while 
nearly  thirty-five  years  had  elapsed  and 
the  younger  members  of  the  school  had 
grown  out  of  my  knowledge  and  remem- 
brance, yet  from  circumstances  recount- 
ed and  family  resemblances  retained  I 
was  able  to  recall  and  place  nearly  all 
who  came  to  meet  me.  Among  them 
were  the  former  United  States  Senator, 
Frank  J.  Cannon,  the  present  Govern- 
or, Heber  M.  Wells,  Parley  L.  Williams, 
and  Franklin  S.  Richards,  now  promi- 
nent attorneys  in  Salt  Lake,  John  Henry 
Smith,  a  member  of  the  twelve  Apostles 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        15 

of  the  Church,  and  many  other  well- 
known  men.  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to 
meet  them  again  after  so  many  years. 

At  Ogden,  where  my  friends  met  me, 
the  train  for  Salt  Lake  leaves  in  a  few 
moments  after  the  arrival  of  the  train 
from  the  east,  which  remains  some  time 
before  it  departs  for  the  west.  Baron 
Sternburg  had,  therefore,  left  the  car 
on  our  arrival  in  Ogden,  so  I  could  not 
find  him  to  inform  him  of  my  proposed 
visit  to  Salt  Lake  and  to  extend  to  him 
also  the  kind  invitation  of  my  friends  to 
become  their  guest  during  the  long  wait. 
I  was  obliged  to  convey  to  him  by  card 
and  the  kindness  of  a  newspaper  man 
my  apologies  and  the  reasons  for  my 
gudden  change  of  plans.  My  card  of 
apology  furnished  to  the  reporter  a  let- 
ter of  introduction  to  Baron  Sternburg, 
and  my  oral  apologies  the  opportunity 
for  a  long  interview  which  appeared  in 
the  morning  edition  of  his  paper.  My 
short  visit  to  Salt  Lake  was  very  pleas- 


16        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

ant  and  ended  in  a  promise  to  make  a 
longer  one  at  no  distant  day. 

The  city  had  outgrown  the  appear- 
ance of  a  great  country  village  and  had 
become  a  busy  bustling  city  of  the  world. 
Its  wide  and  beautiful  streets,  its  splen- 
did trees,  its  fine  residences,  its  large 
and  commodious  Ivusiness  liouses  and 
magnificent  churches  and  public  edifices 
make  this  one  of  the  most  attractive  and 
interesting  cities  of  the  west.  Its  peo- 
ple, too,  had  changed,  and  as  I  required 
a  guide  to  the  landmarks  of  the  former 
city  so  I  needed  an  introduction  to  those 
I  had  formerly  known  intimately  and 
well. 

I  left  Salt  Lake  City  early  next  morn- 
ing and  met  on  the  west-bound  train  at 
Ogden  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Morgan,  and 
we  journeyed  together  to  San  Francisco. 
AVe  wired  Baron  Sternburg  at  the  Pal- 
ace Hotel,  San  Francisco,  and  he  came 
over  to  Oakland  to  meet  us  on  the 
evening  of  the  24th  of  April,  he  hav- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        17 

ing  arrh  ed  the  evening  before.  We 
went  immediately  to  the  Palace  Hotel, 
where  the  Baron  had  already  engaged 
rooms  for  the  entire  party.  It  w^as 
10  o'clock  when  we  had  reached 
our  rooms  but  not  too  late  for  visits 
from  the  ubiquitous  reporters,  for  no 
papers  of  more  life  or  energy  are  to 
be  found  anywhere  than  are  the  great 
metropolitan  papers  of  San  Francisco. 
Every  question  pertaining  to  the  islands 
of  the  Pacific  was  and  is  of  vital  interest 
to  the  people  of  our  western  coast,  and 
no  one  appreciates  this  fact  better  than 
members  of  the  press.  We  gave  them 
all  the  information  proper  to  be  made 
I)ublic  and  were  pleased  to  find  that  the 
published  inter^dews  showed  the  good 
sense  and  discretion  which  easily  distin- 
guishes the  practiced  and  successful  re- 
porter from  the  tyro  of  his  profession. 
We  found  on  our  arrival  that  the  Bad- 
ger, a  converted  cruiser  of  about  4,500 
tons,  formerly  ])elonging  to  the  Morgan 


18        MY  TEIP  TO   SAMOA 

line,  which  had  been  designated  by  the 
Navy  Department  for  this  trip,  would 
not  be  ready  until  the  26th.  This  intel- 
ligence was  received  with  no  murmurs  of 
complaint  on  our  part.  We  were  all  tired 
by  the  long  overland  journey  and  were 
quite  content  to  take  a  day  of  rest  before 
embarking  upon  our  long  voyage  by  sea. 
We  spent  the  25th  in  receiving  and  re- 
turning calls  and  in  a- isiting  many  inter- 
esting i^laces  of  amusement  and  resort, 
and  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  26th  we  embarked  on  the  Badger, 
weighed  anchor,  and  steamed  out 
through  the  Golden  Gate.  The  Badger 
had  been  especially  fitted  up  for  this 
trip.  By  the  prudent  foresight  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  had  instructed  Captain  Miller  to 
have  large  and  convenient  upper  deck 
rooms  built  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  Commissioners,  and  the  vessel  had 
been  newly  refitted  with  electric  fans, 
ice  machine,  and  other  modern  conven- 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        19 

ienees  necessary  in  the  tropics.  The 
Badger,  upon  her  conversion  into  a 
cruiser,  had  been  provided  with  twelve 
rapid-fire  guns,  six  five-inch  guns  on  the 
middle  deck,  and  six  five-pound  rapid- 
fire  guns  on  the  upper  deck.  She  had  a 
full  complement  of  men  and  crew,  in  all 
about  200,  and  was  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Miller,  who  was  commander  of  the 
ill-fated  Merrimac  before  she  was  dis- 
mantled and  sunk  by  Lieutenant  Hobson 
in  Santiago  harbor.  Too  much  cannot 
be  said  in  commendation  of  Captain  Mil- 
ler and  his  officers  during  this  entire 
trip.  They  were  very  courteous  and 
discreet.  Our  consultation  cabin  was  on 
the  upper  deck  where  important  inter- 
views with  prominent  officers,  officials, 
and  native  chiefs  were  constantly  had, 
and  the  least  indiscretion  in  divulging 
facts  which  came  under  their  observa- 
tion or  plans  of  which  they  at  times 
must  necessarily  have  been  informed 
might  have  seriously  retarded,  if  not 


20       MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

injuriously  affected,  the  successful  con- 
clusion of  our  work.  We  found  them 
not  only  efficient  officers  but  courteous 
gentlemen  and  agreeable  companions, 
who  did  much  to  make  our  long  voyage 
and  prolonged  stay  in  Apia  and  among 
the  Samoan  Islands  a  pleasant  and 
agreeable  one.  Captain  Miller,  my  two 
associates,  and  myself  formed  a  mess 
by  ourselves,  and  after  we  had  swapped 
all  the  English,  German,  and  American 
jokes  in  the  repertoire  of  each  other  we 
gathered  up  and  mutually  detailed  the 
fictions  and  traditions  of  the  Samoans, 
and  the  tales  and  romances  of  traders 
and  planters,  and  the  recollections  of 
missionaries  which  constituted  the  his- 
tory of  these  far  away  islands  of  the  sea. 

HONOLTJLr    AND    ITS    ATTRACTIONS 

On  the  morning  of  May  3,  after  a  re- 
markably pleasant  voyage  across  this 
portion  of  the  great  ocean  which  bears 
the  reputation  of  being  pacific  in  nothing 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        21 

but  name,  we  sighted  the  high  j)oint  of 
land  known  as  **  Diamond  Head/' 
which  stands  as  a  sentinel  over  the  beau- 
tiful harbor  of  Honolulu,  in  which  we 
cast  anchor  at  about  10  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon.  The  little  harbor  was  full  of 
vessels  flying  the  flags  of  all  nations,  and 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  we  found  room 
for  our  vessel  and  opportunity  to  take 
on  board  the  coal  needed  for  our  voyage 
to  Samoa  and  return.  The  entrance  to 
the  harbor  is  narrow,  and  the  harbor 
itself,  which  has  been  dredged  and  con- 
siderably enlarged,  is  still  small,  but  it 
is  safe  and  well  protected  from  wind 
and  storais.  We  spent  several  days  very 
pleasantly  in  Honolulu  Avhile  our  vessel 
was  coaling.  We  met  many  of  the  prom- 
inent citizens  and  public  officials,  and 
were  delightfully  entertained  at  the 
splendid  home  of  Mr.  Ballon,  a  promi- 
nent young  attorney  of  the  city,  a  native 
of  Boston  and  a  member  of  the  cel- 
ebrated Ballon  family  of  that  city,  and 


22        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

whose  charming  wife  is  the  daughter 
of  the  celebrated  Confederate  general, 
Basil  Duke.  We  visited  several  of  the 
sugar  plantations,  among  them  the  new 
Ava  plantaton  whose  owners  have  re- 
claimed a  large  tract  of  desert  land  by 
means  of  artesian  wells.  The  cane  is  said 
to  be  ver}^  rich,  and  the  land  to  produce 
three  times  the  amount  of  sugar  per  acre 
which  is  obtained  in  Cuba  or  other  West 
India  islands.  We  were  told  most  re- 
markable stories  of  the  rapid  rise  in 
values  of  land  since  the  islands  have 
become  a  part  of  the  United  States.  As 
an  instance,  we  Avere  given  the  name  of  a 
syndicate  w^hich  had  purchased  a  large 
tract  of  desert  land  for  a  few  cents  an 
acre,  and  having  developed  artesian 
wells  which  supplied  sufficient  fresh 
water  for  irrigation,  the  syndicate  had 
the  past  year  leased  a  large  portion  of  it 
at  a  yearlv  cash  rental  of  $12  per  acre. 
We  could  not  forbear  to  express  some 
surprise  at  these  rapid  advances  in  rents 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        23 

and  values,  but  as  none  of  these  narra- 
tors asked  us  to  purchase  we  felt  only 
bound  to  believe  all  they  told  us.  Hon- 
olulu is  really  an  American  city;  for 
while  one  meets  here  Japs,  Chinese,  Por- 
tuguese, natives,  and  people  of  almost 
every  nationality  in  the  world,  yet  its 
streets,  its  business  houses,  its  public 
buildings,  its  officials  and  government 
are  all  American.  A  genuine  American 
boom  has  overtaken  the  town,  and  al- 
though every  real  estate  man  assures 
you  that  it  is  a  healthy,  natural  growth 
you  can  easily  convince  yourself  by  in- 
quiring the  price  of  some  vacant  corner 
lot  which  the  owner  assures  you  he  does 
not  care  to  sell  at  any  price. 

We  spent  also  a  few  days  at  this 
beautiful  city  on  our  return,  and  were 
driven  by  our  polite  and  hospitable  rep- 
resentative, Harold  M.  Sewall,  and  other 
residents  and  citizens  of  the  place,  not 
only  around  the  town  but  to  various 
places  of  interest  in  its  immediate  vicin- 


24        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

ity,  among  others  around  the  high  hill 
or  mountain  overlooking  the  town 
known  as  the  Punch  Bowl,  an  extinct 
volcano  from  the  outer  brim  of  whose 
crater  we  obtained  a  splendid  view  of 
the  city,  harbor,  and  surrounding  coun- 
try. We  also  drove  to  the  Pale,  a  per- 
pendiculai*  cliff  on  the  north  side  of  the 
island,  down  which  the  great  King 
Kemehameha  is  said  to  have  driven  the 
last  of  his  enemies  to  sudden  and  instant 
death.  We  also  visited  Pearl  Harbor, 
which  was  set  apart  to  our  government 
as  a  coaling  station  before  w^e  acquired 
title  to  the  islands  themselves.  It  is  an 
immense  inland  harbor,  consisting  of  a 
number  of  arms  or  inlets,  most  of  which 
are  said  to  be  of  sufficient  depth  to  float 
vessels  of  the  largest  size.  The  entrance 
to  this  great  inland  lake  is  now  barred 
by  a  coral  reef  which  it  is  claimed  can 
be  easily  blasted  to  give  entrance  into 
this  fine  harbor  to  vessels  of  any  size.  It 
is  but  a  few  miles  from  Honolulu,  and 


W::- ;:.:.:. 


MATAAFA.    REBEL    KING    OF    SAMOA 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        25 

when  the  government  shall  have  made 
its  proposed  improvements  and  estab- 
lished there  a  naval  station,  which  is 
already  required,  the  little  harbor  of 
Honolulu  will  recover  from  its  present 
congested  condition  and  be  able  with  the 
improvements  already  ]3roposed  to  af- 
ford suiiicient  room  for  the  commerce 
which  its  position  is  sure  to  command. 

I  must  not  forget  to  speak  of  the 
Museum,  where  we  spent  a  pleasant  and 
instructive  afternoon.  The  building  is 
large  and  built  of  native  woods,  some  of 
which  have  now  become  rare  and  difficult 
to  obtain.  The  display  of  relics  and  cur- 
ios from  the  Hawaiian  and  other  islands 
of  the  Pacific  is  a  very  fine  one  and  re- 
flects great  credit  upon  its  manager,  to 
whose  courtesy  we  are  indebted  for  much 
valuable  information  concerning  the 
native  inlaabitants  of  these  islands,  of 
whom  so  little  is  really  known. 

The  climate  of  Honolulu  is  delightful. 
The  trade  winds  which  sweep  across  the 


26        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

islands  and  down  its  ravines  remind  one 
at  times  of  the  zephyrs  of  a  western 
prairie,  and  at  night  the  air  becomes  so 
refreshingly  cool  that  an  overcoat  is 
often  desired. 

As  soon  as  our  vessel  had  coaled, 
we  bade  adieu  to  lovely  Honolulu  and 
her  hosj)itable  people  and  took  our 
course  for  the  equator  and  the  Southern 
Cross.  We  saw  little  of  the  fabled  dol- 
drums, for  the  trade  winds  of  the  north 
followed  us  until  we  met  those  from  the 
south,  and  kind  old  Neptune  was  so 
forbearing  as  to  issue  to  each  of  the 
Commissioners  and  Mr.  Morgan  a 
diploma  authorizing  our  passage  across 
the  great  barrier  line  without  the  for- 
mality of  initiation  to  which  the  sailor 
has  been  from  time  immemorial  inev- 
itably subject. 

We  had  started  upon  our  journey  well 
supplied  with  all  the  literature  pertain- 
ing to  Samoa,  that  could  be  readily 
obtained.    Mr.  Morgan  had  been  espe- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        27 

cially  diligent  in  selecting  and  obtaining 
from  the  departments  the  reports  of 
consuls  and  congressional  committees 
upon  affairs  in  Samoa,  and  several  his- 
tories published  under  the  supervision 
of  the  missionaries  which  furnished  suf- 
ficient reading  for  the  abundant  leisure 
time  we  had  on  this  lengthy  trip,  inter- 
rupted onh'  by  our  pleasant  stoj)  at 
Honolulu.  By  the  time,  therefore,  that 
we  reached  our  destination  we  w^ere  fair- 
ly well  conversant  with  what  had  been 
published  concerning  Samoa. 

ARRIVAL  AT  APIA 

On  the  morning  of  May  13,  1899,  we 
arrived  off  the  island  of  Upolu,  at  a 
point  a  few  miles  east  of  the  harbor  of 
Apia.  The  sun  was  just  emerging  from 
the  eastern  sea,  its  rays  were  just  light- 
ing up  the  green  summits  of  the  island 
mountains  in  front  of  us.  The  sea  was 
calm  and  quiet,  save  that  continuous 
billowy  motion,  that  restless  swell  which 


28        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

never  ceases  and  which  is  ever  reminding 
you  of  that  terrible  reserve  force  it  can 
bring  into  action  when  it  desires.  No 
artist  can  paint  such  a  landscape;  the 
peculiar  blending  of  color ;  the  grandeur 
and  magnificence  of  the  scene  which 
would  evoke  criticism  of  the  painter's 
canvas,  fill  the  beholder  of  nature's  pic- 
ture with  awe  and  admiration.  I  have 
witnessed  the  sim  rise  on  Rigi  and  other 
summits  of  the  Alps;  I  have  seen  its 
morning  light  climbing  the  rugged  sides 
of  the  AUeghanies,  the  Rockies,  and  the 
Sierra  Nevadas  of  our  own  country,  but 
I  have  never  seen  so  splendid  a  combi- 
nation of  beauty  and  grandeur  as  a  sun- 
rise in  Samoa.  The  mighty  orb  of  day 
does  not  rise  as  observed  in  a  northern 
sky.  No  twilight  warning  announces  its 
uprising  from  the  sea.  It  springs  forth 
from  utter  darkness,  with  full  force  of 
heat  and  light ;  a  mid-day  sun  at  the  hor- 
izon, whose  fiery  rays  light  up  the  dark- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        29 

ened  air  and  scatter  the  clouds  of  night, 
revealing  a  beautiful  landscape  beneath 
a  clear  tropical  sky.  The  splendor  and 
brilliancy  of  the  scene  is  indescribable  by 
pen.  The  dark  green  of  the  mountain 
tops  and  the  retreating  shadows  of  de- 
parting night  so  soften  and  temper  the 
fiery  light  of  the  rising  sun  that  the  feel- 
ing of  awe  quickly  changes  to  admiration 
and  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  pic- 
ture which  lies  before  you.  The  sunset, 
the  counterpart  of  the  Samoan  sunrise, 
is  not  less  beautiful  nor  less  impressive. 
There  is  the  same  succession  of  instant 
darkness  everywhere  found  in  the  region 
of  the  tropics,  and  the  same  strong, 
beautiful  coloring  of  the  sky  and  moun- 
tain top6,  but  none  of  those  soft  fading 
pink  and  greenish  colors  which  belong 
to  our  beautiful  twilight  of  the  north. 
Always  at  and  near  the  equatorial  line 
the  sun  disappears  in  a  direct  line  be- 
neath the  horizon,  while  further  north  or 


30        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

south  it  takes  its  course  obliquely  down, 
remaining  long  near  the  range  of  vision 
after  it  has  disappeared  from  view.  No 
islands  of  the  world  perhaps  present  a 
finer  view  to  one  approaching  from  the 
sea  than  those  of  Samoa,  and  no  time  is 
more  favoral^le  than  that  of  sunrise  or 
sunset. 

Our  arrival  was  not  unexpected,  and 
so  soon  as  we  had  dropped  anchor  in  the 
harbor  Admiral  Kautz  and  the  com- 
manding officers  of  the  American,  Eng- 
lish, and  German  shi]3S  of  war  came  on 
board  to  greet  us,  and  salutes  were  fired 
in  accordance  with  naval  etiquette. 
These  salutes  were  returned  by  the 
Badger,  and  the  formal  visits  of  the  offi- 
cers were  immediately  returned  by  the 
Commissioners,  visits  thereafter  of  the 
civil  officers  were  received  and  paid  by 
the  Commissioners,  and  on  the  next  day 
after  the  formalities  of  our  reception 
were  over,  rooms  on  shore  were  secured, 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        31 

and  the  Commissioners  organized  by  the 
election  of  Bartlett  Tripp,  the  American 
Commissioner,  chairman,  and  Mr.  Mor- 
gan secretary.  The  rooms  selected  com- 
prised the  second  story  of  the  Interna- 
tional Hotel,  with  a  broad  veranda 
looking  out  upon  the  harbor,  where  we 
could  get  good  air  and  light.  My  asso- 
ciates for  a  few  weeks  roomed  on  shore, 
but  Mr.  Morgan  and  myself  took  only 
our  noon  lunch  on  shore,  returning  to 
the  ship  every  night  to  sleep.  During 
the  day  the  trade  winds  are  very  refresh- 
ing both  on  land  and  at  sea,  but  at  night 
the  breeze  blows  from  the  land  toward 
the  sea  and  is  not  felt  on  shore  where  the 
houses,  as  is  generally  the  case,  are  sur- 
rounded by  trees,  but  in  the  harbor  and 
on  board  ship  this  breeze,  which  is  the 
counterpart  of  the  trade  Avind,  is  most 
welcome  and  agreeable.  Our  deck  rooms 
at  night  upon  return  to  the  vessel  were 
relieved  of  the  heated  air  of  the  day  by 


32        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

the  use  of  the  electric  fans,  and  its  place 
supplied  by  the  cool  breeze  from  the 
land,  so  that  sleep  was  induced  with  all 
the  refreshing  results  to  be  found  in  our 
most  favored  resorts  at  home. 

My  associates  soon  discovered  the  dif- 
ference  between  the  night  on  shore  and 
at  sea,  and  they  too  within  a  few  days 
returned  to  the  vessel  at  night,  after  the 
work  of  the  day  was  done. 

PRELIMINAKY  WORK  OF  THE   COMISIISSION 

Our  first  work  was  one  of  inquiry. 
Our  knowledge  of  Samoa  and  its  people 
was  what  we  had  learned  from  the  books. 
We  gave  a  general  invitation  to  all  the 
people  to  meet  us  and  give  us  the  benefit 
of  their  views,  and  we  sent  special  invi- 
tations to  all  officers,  civil  and  military, 
fixing  hours  of  audience,  in  order  that 
we  might  at  the  earliest  moment  not  only 
acquaint  ourselves  with  existing  evils 
but  also  be  able  to  devise  the  speediest 
and  best  means  of  remedying  them. 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        33 

CAUSE  OF  THE  TROUBLES  IN  SAMOA 

The  situation  was  indeed  a  critical  one. 
The  Berlin  Treaty  of  1889,  entered  into 
between  the  English,  German,  and  Am- 
erican governments,  and  under  which 
officers  had  been  appointed  and  a  govern- 
ment sought  to  be  established,  had  not 
met  the  expectations  of  its  authoi's  or 
the  parties  thereto.  Under  it  Malietoa 
Laupepe,  w^ho  had  been  dethroned  by 
Mataafa,  w^as  reinstated  and  Mataafa 
subsequently  sent  into  exile,  but  who  at 
about  the  time  of  the  death  of  Malietoa 
had  been  permitted  to  return  to  the 
island  by  the  great  powers,  upon  the  plea 
that  he  was  an  old  man  in  broken  health 
who  desired  to  die  at  home  and  be  buried 
with  the  members  of  his  tribe,  i^urged 
from  the  disgTace  of  a  death  in  exile. 
Upon  recommendation  of  the  consuls  of 
the  three  powers  this  request  was  at  last 
granted,  but  most  unfortunately  at  a 
time  when  the  reigning  King  had  died 


34       MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 

and  a  new  one  was  to  be  elected  under  the 
terms  of  the  Berlin  Treaty.  It  might 
have  been  foreseen  that  the  great  power 
and  influence  of  Mataafa,  coupled  with 
the  S}Tnpathy  that  had  naturally  been 
engendered  by  his  years  of  exile,  would 
have  made  him  a  natural  and  powerful 
candidate  as  successor  to  the  deceased 
King.  So  it  proved :  ahnost  before  the 
tribal  ceremonies  upon  the  death  of 
Malietoa  were  at  an  end  the  adherents 
of  Mataafa  declared  him  to  be  duly 
elected  King,  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
and  customs  of  Samoa.  This  was  chal- 
lenged by  the  immediate  family  of  the 
deceased  King,  and  several  powerful 
chiefs  refusing  allegiance  to  Mataafa, 
among  others  Tamesese,  son  of  a  former 
chief  once  elected  King,  declared  Malie- 
toa Taunu  Mafili,  son  of  the  deceased 
King,  a  lad  about  eighteen  years  of  age, 
to  be  the  successor  of  his  father,  and 
claimed  him  also  to  be  elected  King  in 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        35 

accordance  with  the  laws  and  customs 
of  Samoa. 

Under  their  laws  and  customs  it  seems 
neither  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
tribe  nor  of  the  chiefs  elect  a  King  but, 
under  a  right  claimed  to  be  exercised  by 
a  favored  few,  the  King  is  by  such  pecul- 
iar methods  selected  that  it  is  possible 
one  may  be  declared  King  to  whom  a 
large  majority  of  all  the  people  of  the 
nation  and  of  the  chiefs  are  opposed. 
Without  attempting  to  explain  these 
laws  and  customs,  which  with  all  the 
study  I  gave  them  I  do  not  now  pretend 
to  understand,  I  learned  enough  to  know 
that  thereunder  not  only  may  one  be 
made  King  against  the  will  of  a  major- 
ity of  the  people  but  that  more  than  one 
person  may  also  be  declared  the  King. 
It  is  not  strange  then  that  adherents  of 
Mataafa  and  Tanu  should  have  been 
zealous  in  the  interests  of  their  respec- 
tive   chiefs,    and   without   doubt   both 


36        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

factions  may  have  been  honest  and  con- 
scientious in  the  belief  that  either  chief 
was  rightfully  elected  King.  Under  the 
provisions  of  the  Berlin  Treaty  it  was 
provided  that  ^^In  case  any  question 
shall  hereafter  arise  in  Samoa  respect- 
ing the  rightful  election  or  appointment 
of  King;  or  of  any  other  chief  claiming 
authority  over  the  islands ;  or  respecting 
the  validity  of  the  powers  which  the 
King  or  any  chief  may  claim  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  office,  such  question  shall 
not  lead  to  war,  but  shall  be  presented 
for  decision  to  the  Chief  Justice  of 
Samoa,  who  shall  decide  in  writing,  con- 
formably to  the  provisions  of  this  act 
and  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  Samoa 
not  in  conflict  therewith ;  and  the  signa- 
tory governments  will  accept  and  abide 
by  such  decision."  (Sec.  6,  Art.  III.) 
And  by  section  two  of  the  same  article, 
referring  to  the  powers  of  the  Chief 
Justice,  it  was  also  provided  that  ^^His 
decision  upon  questions  within  his  juris- 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        37 

diction  shall  be  final."  Under  these  pro- 
visions of  the  Berlin  Treaty,  therefore, 
when  both  Malietoa  Tanu  and  Mataafa 
assumed  to  have  been  elected  and  to  have 
authority  to  exercise  tlie  rights  and 
powers  of  King,  an  appeal  was  made  to 
the  Chief  Justice  who  heard  the  testi- 
mony presented  by  either  side,  and  after 
an  examination  of  all  the  evidence 
decided  that  Tanu  was  rightfully  and 
legally  elected  King.  A  climax  had  now 
been  reached  in  the  affairs  of  Samoa. 
It  had  been  claimed,  and  it  Avas  undoubt- 
edly true,  that  the  representatives  of  the 
three  powers  in  the  islands  were  not 
harmonious  in  their  preferences  as  to 
which  of  the  opposing  candidates  should 
be  declared  King.  English  and  Ameri- 
can officials  were  said  to  have  been 
friendly  to  the  selection  of  Malietoa 
Tanu,  while  those  of  Germany  were  said 
to  have  been  friendly  to  Mataafa.  In 
any  event,  immediately  after  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Chief  Justice,  the  English  and 


38        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

American  consuls  issued  a  proclamation 
in  which  the  German  consul  declined  to 
join  declaring  Tanu  the  King.  Mataafa 
and  his  adherents  declined  to  obey  the 
proclamation  or  to  be  bound  by  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Chief  Justice.  Fighting  imme- 
diately ensued,  and  within  twenty-four 
hours  the  forces  of  Mataafa  had  com- 
pletely defeated  those  of  Tanu,  and  had 
either  taken  them  prisoners  or  driven 
them  to  safe  shelter  on  board  the  men  of 
war  in  the  harbor.  Mataafa  became  King 
de  facto,  and  assumed  the  powers  of 
government,  and  the  three  consuls  claim- 
ing to  act  in  behalf  of  their  governments 
recognized  provisionally  the  govern- 
ment of  Mataafa.  The  Chief  Justice 
and  some  others  of  the  officials  sought 
safet}^  on  board  the  men  of  war,  and 
declined  to  recognize  the  provisional 
government  of  Mataafa. 

In  this  condition  of  affairs  Admiral 
Kautz  with  the  United  States  cruiser 
Philadelphia  appeared  in  the  harbor, 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        39 

and  being  the  ranking  naval  officer  he 
called  a  meeting  on  board  his  vessel  of 
all  the  commanders  of  the  English,  Ger- 
man, and  American  vessels  in  the  harbor, 
and  of  all  civil  officials  in  the  islands. 
He  heard  the  statements  of  the  consuls 
as  to  the  consent  they  had  given  to  the 
existing  provisional  government,  and 
after  listening  to  the  views  of  those  pres- 
ent at  the  meeting  he  issued  a  proclama- 
tion assuming  to  denounce  the  provis- 
ional government  of  Mataafa  as 
revolutionary  and  subversive  of  the  legal 
government,  ordering  the  withdrawal  of 
the  forces  of  Mataafa,  and  declaring 
Tanu  the  duly  elected  King.  To  this 
proclamation  of  the  admiral  the  German 
consul  general  issued  a  counter  procla- 
mation denying  that  Germany  had 
consented  to  or  joined  in  such  action, 
and  that  he  should  continue  to  recognize 
the  provisional  government  of  Mataafa 
until  otherwise  advised  by  his  govern- 
ment.   At  this  juncture  Admiral  Kautz, 


40        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

whose  action  was  supported  by  the  com- 
manders of  the  British  vessels,  sent  a 
communication  to  Mataaf a  and  his  chiefs 
informing  them  that  unless  they  vacated 
the  city  of  Apia  within  a  limited  time  he 
should  open  fire  upon  them  with  the 
guns  of  the  ships,  and  no  reply  being 
received  fire  was  opened  by  the  Phila- 
delphia and  the  ships  of  the  British  fleet, 
which  was  continued  at  intervals  for 
several  days. 

In  the  meantime  Chief  Justice  Cham- 
bers, attended  by  a  detachment  of 
marines,  was  put  in  possession  of  the 
court  house  and  a  guard  was  detailed  to 
defend  the  American  and  English  con- 
sulates ;  the  city  was  placed  under  mar- 
tial law,  marines  were  stationed  at 
various  points  on  shore,  and  sentries 
were  placed  in  positions  convenient  for 
communication  with  each  other  and  with 
the  ships  in  the  harbor.  The  forces  of 
Tanu  now  began  to  again  assemble. 
Tanu  was  crowned  King  with  ceremony 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        41 

under  the  guns  and  protection  of  the 
English  and  American  fleets.     English 
officers  were  detailed  to  arm  and  drill 
the  forces  of  Tanu,  which  were  now  in 
control  of  Mulinu,  a  point  of  land  which 
forms  the  western  side  of  Apia  harbor 
and  which  projects  like  a  finger  into  the 
sea.    The  war  was  now  on.    Frequent 
collisions  were  taking  place  between  the 
forces  of  Tanu  and  Mataafa,  the  Tanu 
troops  sometimes  being  led  by  English 
officers  and  sometimes  acting  indepen- 
dent of  them.    In  one  of  these  unfortu- 
nate engagements  our  gallant  Lieutenant 
Launesdale,  of  the  Philadelphia,  lost  his 
life,  and  brave  Ensign  Monaghan,  in 
trying  to  save  the  life  of  Launsdale,  lost 
his  own.    The  English  Lieutenant  Free- 
man and  a  nmnber  of  English  and  Amer- 
ican privates  were  also  killed  in  the  same 
engagement.  Germany  had  taken  no  ac- 
tive part  in  the  controversy  by  any  offi- 
cial action,  but  several  German  citizens, 
among  them  Marquandt  and  Hufnagel, 


42       MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

suspected  of  giving  aid  and  assistance 
to  Mataafa,  were  arrested  and  j)laced  in 
confinement,  at  first  on  a  British  man  of 
war,  but  afterwards  surrendered  to  the 
German  cruiser  Falke,  where  they  were 
held  in  custody  until  the  arrival  of  the 
Commissioners,  who  upon  an  examina- 
tion of  the  evidence  discharged  them. 
The  feeling  between  the  Germans  on 
the  one  part  and  the  English  and  Amer- 
icans upon  the  other  had  become  intense 
and  excited,  and  the  relations  between 
the  representatives  of  the  powers  fear- 
fully strained.  The  least  overt  act  on 
the  part  of  either  might  at  any  moment 
have  precipitated  hostilities  between 
them. 

In  the  meantime  the  provisional 
government  had  been  practically  over- 
thrown. Mataafa  and  his  forces  had 
been  driven  without  the  town.  The 
consuls  and  Supreme  Court  were  exer- 
cising their  usual  functions,  and  Tanu 
within  the  limits  of  the  city  and  the 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        43 

range  of  the  guns  of  the  ships  was  recog- 
nized as  King.  Outside  of  the  authority 
exercised  by  the  consuls  and  the  Supreme 
Court,  however,  the  islands  were  prac- 
tically under  martial  law.  The  provis- 
ional government  at  least  was  at  an  end. 

THE  COMMISSIONERS  AT  WORK 

Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when 
news  reached  Samoa  of  the  appointment 
of  the  Commission,  and  orders  were 
received  to  hold  the  status  quo  pending 
its  arrival.  The  news  was  not  most 
pleasant  to  the  commanders  of  either 
the  English  or  American  vessels.  The 
British  officers  had  been  very  diligent  in 
collecting  and  drilling  a  native  army, 
loyal  to  Tanu.  It  was  estimated  that 
already  3,000  Tanu  warriors  were  under 
arms.  Many  of  them  were  drilled  by 
British  officers  and  armed  with  British 
rifles;  the  forces  of  Mataafa,  it  was 
estimated,  did  not  exceed  this  number. 
They  were  armed  with  weapons  much 


44        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

inferior  and  were  lacking  in  discipline 
and  in  the  use  of  arms,  which  had  been 
taught  the  troops  of  Tanu.  It  was 
therefore  confidently  asserted  that  the 
Tanu  forces,  supported  by  the  marines 
and  the  guns  of  the  ships,  could  easily 
meet  and  conquer  the  forces  of  Mataaf a, 
and  they  naturally  did  not  look  with 
fai^or  upon  an  enforced  armistice  tiiat 
deprived  them  of  the  honor  of  speedily 
determining  a  controversy  which  might 
consume  months  in  subtle  diplomacy. 
With  military  exactness  and  prompt- 
ness, however,  the  orders  from  Washing- 
ton, Berlin,  and  London  were  carried  out. 
A  neutral  zone  between  the  two  conflict- 
ing armies  was  defined  about  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  in  width  beyond  which 
Mataaf  a  and  his  forces  were  required  to 
withdraw,  and  in  this  condition  things 
existed  when  the  Commissioners  arrived 
in  Apia.  Three  thousand  armed  men 
on  either  side,  behind  their  fortifications, 
resting  on  their  guns  looking  across  the 


MY  TRIP  ^O   SAMOA        45 

strip  of  neutral  ground,  were  ready  at 
any  moment  to  terminate  the  truce  and 
to  renew  the  fight  with  added  bitterness 
and  hate.  The  English  and  American 
ships  in  the  harbor  were  ready  for  action. 
The  marines  from  the  ships  were  patrol- 
ing  the  shore.  The  army  of  Tanu  was  in 
full  view  as  we  entered  the  harbor,  while 
in  the  distance  could  be  seen  the  fortifi- 
cations and  troops  of  the  hostile  forces 
of  Mataafa.  Drums  were  beating  and 
flags  were  flying.  It  was  a  warlike 
scene  which  presented  itself  as  we 
steamed  into  the  harbor  of  Apia  on  the 
13th  of  May,  1899.  The  Commissioners 
were  kindly  received  both  by  the  naval 
authorities  and  by  the  peox)le,  but  their 
arrival  inspired  little  enthusiasm  and 
no  confidence.  The  people  naturally 
looked  to  the  naval  officers  for  safety  and 
protection,  and  they  fully  believed,  at 
least  so  did  the  adherents  of  Tanu,  that 
but  for  the  appointment  of  the  Commis- 
sioners there  would  have  been  a  speedy 


46       MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 

termination  of  the  war;  that  the  Com- 
missioners were  parvenus  and  political 
favorites  without  experience,  from 
whose  action  or  administration  little 
could  be  hoped  or  expected.  This  lack  of 
confidence,  so  apparent  in  look,  act,  and 
speech  of  all  with  whom  they  came  in 
contact,  did  not  discourage  or  affect  the 
action  of  the  Commissioners.  We  went 
to  work  with  added  zeal  and  determin- 
ation. Every  man  who  could  give  us 
any  information  as  to  native  character, 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  existing 
conditions  of  affairs,  as  well  as  remedies 
to  be  recommended,  was  invited  to  give 
us  the  benefit  of  his  information  and 
advice.  We  first  gave  audience  to  Ad- 
miral Kautz  and  the  commanders  of 
the  vessels  in  the  harbor.  We  listened 
to  their  narrations  of  events  still  fresh 
in  the  memory  of  all  who  had  taken  part 
therein,  or  who  had  suffered  therefrom. 
We  called  on  the  missionaries  and  made 
careful  inquiries  as  to  the  habits,  man- 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        47 

ners,  and  customs  of  the  people;  the 
increase  or  decrease  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  islands ;  their  division  into  tribes 
and  the  manner  of  selecting  their  chiefs 
and  King.  We  also  had  long  confer- 
ences wdth  business  men  and  citizens 
who  had  been  long  resident  on  the 
islands.  The  consuls,  the  Chief  Justice, 
and  other  officials  were  very  kind  in 
rendering  us  every  assistance  possible  by 
wa}^  of  statistics  and  data  necessary  to 
give  us  an  early  and  accurate  under- 
standing of  the  task  we  were  sent  to 
accomplish.  Upon  two  propositions  we 
found  they  all  practically  agreed :  1st, 
that  the  title  of  King  should  be  abol- 
ished; some  few  of  the  missionaries  at 
our  first  meeting  expressed  some  doubt 
as  to  the  propriety  of  such  a  step,  and 
we  learned  from  tradition  and  a  sort  of 
common  talk  which  makes  up  most  of 
the  real  historj'-  of  Samoa  and  which 
seemed  to  agree  with  reports  of  our  con- 
suls as   well  as   with   the   reports   of 


48        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

Commissioner  Bates,  that  the  title  of 
King  was  of  modern  origin  and  could  not 
be  authentically  traced  back  further 
than  the  advent  of  the  missionaries 
themselves ;  that  the  title  of  chief  was 
hereditary  and  descended  from  father  to 
son,  and  that  the  missionaries,  to  prevent 
war  and  discord  among  the  tribes  and  to 
unite  them  under  one  liead,  conceived  the 
idea  of  selecting  a  head  chief  as  King, 
and  that  this  custom  had  been  since  fol- 
lowed, on  the  death  of  a  King  to  select 
another  from  one  of  the  most  powerful 
tribes;  that  two  great  families  had  for 
many  years  contended  for  this  prize,  the 
Malietoa  and  Tupua ;  that  the  late  King 
Malietoa  Laux)epa  and  his  son  Malietoa 
Tanu  belonged  to  the  former  family, 
wiiile  Mataafa  belonged  to  the  latter, 
either  of  whom  was  eligible  according  to 
Samoan  law  and  customs;  that  all  the 
great  wars  between  the  tribes  in  modern 
days  had  grown  out  of  the  question,  w^ho 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        49 

should  be  elected  King  or  obeyed  as  such ; 
for  we  found  to  our  surprise  that  none 
of  the  Kings  had  been  able  to  assert  his 
rule  over  all  the  tribes  and  all  the  islands. 
Some  tribe  or  tribes  were  always  in  rebel- 
lion. We  found  that  the  King  lately 
deceased  had  been  twice  dethroned  and 
sent  into  exile,  first  by  his  uncle  Malietoa 
Talion,  and  again  by  Tamesese  and 
Mataaf a  of  the  family  of  Tupua,  and  that 
during  his  entire  reign,  where  rebellion 
had  not  become  successful,  many  of  the 
larger  districts  refused  to  recognize  him 
as  King  or  to  obey  any  precept  issued 
over  his  hand  and  seal ;  that  if  rebellion 
did  not  break  out  at  the  crowning  of  the 
King  it  was  sure  to  break  out  soon  there- 
after; and  the  missionaries  themselves 
during  our  later  conferences  admitted 
that  if  the  chiefs  generally  could  be  got 
to  consent  to  the  abolition  of  the  title  of 
King  and  relegate  their  government  as 
far  as  possible  to  the  chiefs  themselves, 


50        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

subject  to  supervision  and  control  of 
some  strong  central  government,  it 
would  be  advisable  to  do  so.  Outside  of 
the  missionaries  everybody  without  one 
dissenting  voice  demanded  the  abolition 
of  the  kingship. 

Upon  the  second  proposition,  to  wit, 
the  disarmament  of  the  natives,  we 
received  no  encouraging  word  from  any 
source.  Everybody  admitted  the  pro- 
prietj!^  and  necessity  of  its  being  done, 
and  agreed  with  us  that  if  successfully 
accomplished  it  w^ould  end  the  difficulty 
and  that  without  disarmament  no  peace 
could  be  made  permanent.  But  when 
we  approached  the  question  of  how  best 
to  accomplish  such  a  result  we  were  met 
with  such  a  silence  and  an  ominous  smile 
as  to  plainly  advise  us  that  the  precon- 
ceived opinion  already  formed  in  regard 
to  the  Commission  before  its  arrival  had 
not  been  favorably  modified  by  the  prop- 
osition now  made.  Some  of  the  naval 
commanders  were  frank  enough  to  say  it 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        51 

was  impossible,  put  in  mild  and  respect- 
ful form  to  the  Commission  itself,  but  in 
the  freedom  of  their  own  conferences 
and  in  conversation  with  friends  we 
were  creditably  informed  our  proposi- 
tion of  disarmament  was  characterized 
as  visionary  and  academical.  Said  one 
naval  man:  ** There  is  nothing  that  a 
Samoan  so  much  loves  as  his  gun ;  there 
is  nothing  he  will  not  sacrifice  to  obtain 
it,  property,  family,  his  god ;  and  there 
is  no  act  he  will  not  do,  no  crime  he  will 
not  commit  to  retain  it.  It  is  folly  to 
talk  of  disarming  Samoans.  They  can 
only  be  disarmed  by  a  force  suificient  in 
strength  to  take  their  arms  by  force;" 
and  our  attention  was  called  to  the  at- 
tempt to  disarm  the  forces  of  Mataaf a  a 
few  years  before  when  the  German 
forces  on  the  island  were  nearly  annihi- 
lated. History,  tradition,  and  public 
opinion  were  all  against  the  Commis- 
sioners. 


52        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

INTERVIEW  THE  CHIEFS 

After  consultation,  however,  we  de- 
termined as  a  last  chance  to  inter- 
view the  chiefs  themselves  and  a  mes- 
senger was  sent  through  the  lines  to 
Mataafa,  requesting  him  with  his  chief 
warriors  to  visit  us  on  board  the  Bad- 
ger upon  a  day  named,  promising  safe 
escort  through  the  lines  of  Tanu  and 
personal  protection  for  him  and  his 
associates.  His  reply  was  very  friendly, 
expressing  a  willingness  and  a  desire  to 
meet  the  Commissioners,  but  he  request- 
ed permission  to  come  to  our  vessel  by 
boat  rather  than  to  risk  the  dangers  of 
passing  the  lines  of  Tanu  by  land.  To 
this  we  consented,  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  day  appointed  for  the  interview  we 
sent  a  steam  launch  and  several  large 
boats  with  marines,  from  our  vessel 
around  to  the  harbor  opposite  which  the 
forces  of  Mataafa  were  encamped,  where 
they  found  him  and  a  large  number  of 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        53 

his  chief  men  already  awaiting  the  es- 
cort from  the  vessel.  Several  hundred 
of  the  chief  men  and  warriors  accompan- 
ied Mataafa  and  his  council,  but  the 
Commissioners  refused  to  allow  more 
than  Mataafa  himself  and  his  thirteen 
(this  seems  to  be  a  fortunate  nvmiber 
with  the  Samoans)  principal  chiefs  to 
come  on  board  the  vessel.  It  was  a  very 
pretty  and  unique  sight  to  see  these 
warriors  in  their  native  costmnes  as 
their  fleet  of  boats  approached  our  ves- 
sel. They  had  taken  especial  pains  to 
make  the  reception  of  their  King  an  im- 
posing one.  Their  boats,  which  were 
large  and  capable  of  carrying  from  100 
to  350  persons,  were  covered  with  gay 
awnings  and  decorated  with  native  flags 
and  banners;  the  seats  were  cushioned 
with  rare  and  expensive  mats ;  while  the 
sides  of  their  boats  and  every  place  with- 
in were  trinnned  with  flags  and  tropical 
flowers.  The  larger  of  the  boats,  carry- 
ing Mataafa  and  his  principal  chiefs, 


54        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

came  alongside  the  gangway,  up  which 
they  moved  with  that  slow,  dignified  step 
which  characterizes  their  race.  They 
were  conducted  down  the  deck  to  the 
rooms  of  the  Commissioners,  and  w^ere 
cordially  received  and  invited  to  seats 
which  had  already  been  arranged  for 
their  reception.  Mataafa  was  clad  in  a 
long  white  robe  w^hich  came  down  to  his 
feet  and  was  partially  gathered  at  the 
waist  by  some  form  of  belt  but  flowing 
somewhat  loosely  about  his  large  stal- 
w^art  form,  giving  him,  with  his  dignified 
mien  and  presence,  something  of  the 
appearance  of  a  Eoman  Senator.  His 
head  and  feet  were  bare,  and  he  wore  no 
ornaments  of  any  kind  except  a  necklace 
of  beads  and  a  cross,  the  emblems  of  his 
church.  His  thirteen  chiefs  were  naked 
except  the  lava  lavas  or  loin  cloths 
about  their  persons.  Their  bodies  were 
freshly  oiled,  which  brought  out  dis- 
tinctly the  brilliant  tattooing  of  the 
trunk  and  limbs  (a  relic  of  barbarian 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        55 

customs  to  which  every  tribe  still  relig- 
iously adheres),  and  the  splendid 
muscles  of  the  limbs  and  body  were  dis- 
played to  best  advantage  by  their  native 
dignity  of  carriage,  which  is  a  distin- 
guishing feature  of  their  race.  Not  one 
of  these  stalwart  men  was  less  than  six 
feet  in  height,  and  with  the  exception  of 
one  or  two  who  were  deformed  by  that 
terrible  disease  so  prevalent  on  these 
islands,  elephantiasis,  they  were  as 
splendid  looking  a  body  of  men  physi- 
cally as  could  be  seen  in  the  prize  ring  or 
practicing  rooms  of  the  gymnasium. 
They  were  arranged  down  one  side  of 
the  room.  The  Commissioners,  after  the 
reception  accorded  to  each  individual 
chief,  took  up  their  positions  on  the  op- 
posite side. 

The  conference  was  opened  through 
the  interpreter  by  asking  them,  in  ac- 
cordance with  Samoan  customs,  whether 
they  had  any  communications  to  make 
to  the  Commissioners.    Mataafa  imme- 


56        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

diately  replied  gracious!}^,  hoping  that 
he  found  each  of  the  Commissioners  in 
good  health  after  their  long  journey, 
and  expressing  the  pleasure  of  his 
people  in  having  so  early  an  opportunity 
of  meeting  them  upon  their  arrival  in 
their  country,  and  that  they  would  be 
glad  to  hear  any  communication  it 
might  please  the  Commissioners  to  make 
to  them.  The  Commissioners  then  made 
them  an  address  of  some  length,  telling 
them  that  the  great  nations  of  England, 
Germany,  and  the  United  States  had 
heard  with  sorrow  and  regret  that  the 
Samoans  were  at  war  with  each  other; 
that  all  Samoans  were  alike  to  these 
great  nations ;  that  they  knew  no  differ- 
ence between  the  followers  of  Mataafa 
and  those  of  Malietoa  Tanu ;  they  only 
desired  that  all  should  live  in  peace  with 
each  other ;  that  to  accomplish  this  pur- 
pose they  had  sent  the  Commissioners  to 
examine  into  and  settle  this  difficulty 
and  end  the  war  between  these  people; 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        57 

that  these  nations  were  very  strong  and 
very  good;  that  they  had  sent  to  these 
people  good  missionaries  who  had  es- 
tablished schools  and  churches  among 
them,  and  had  instituted  laws  among 
them  to  prevent  and  punish  crime  and 
to  prohibit  white  men  of  any  nation  from 
coming  and  taking  their  lands  and  pro})- 
erties,  and  had  established  law^s  so  that 
the  natives  could  neither  sell  nor  dis- 
pose of  their  lands  except  by  lease  for 
a  reasonable  term  of  years  at  a  fair 
rental  value  to  be  approved  by  the  high 
officers  of  the  islands  so  that  they  could 
have  and  own  their  lands  as  homes  for 
themselves  and  their  children  for  all 
time  to  come,  and  where  they  could  live 
on  terms  of  peace  with  each  other ;  that 
the  great  nations  desired  only  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  these  people,  and  they 
were  much  grieved  when  they  learned 
that  the  Samoans  after  all  that  had  been 
done  for  them,  instead  of  being  peace- 
able and  happy  were  making  war  upon 


58        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

and  killing  each  other;  that  the  great 
powers  had  sent  the  Commissioners  to 
tell  them  that  they  must  cease  their  wars 
and  fighting  and  become  again  good 
Samoans  and  brothers ;  that  if  thev  did 
not  do  so  the  great  powers  would  have 
to  send  great  vessels  here  with  their  great 
guns  that  would  compel  obedience ;  that 
if  Samoans  thought  these  vessels  were 
large  and  their  guns  powerful  which 
could  reach  Samoan  houses  three  miles 
from  shore,  w^hat  would  they  think  of  the 
great  war  vessels  of  these  nations  which 
could  fire  great  shells  four  times  as  far ; 
which  from  the  shore  could  destroy  every 
Samoan  house  and  village,  and  ruin  and 
make  waste  every  part  of  these  beautiful 
islands;  but  that  the  great  powers  had 
no  desire  to  do  so ;  that  they  only  desired 
the  good  of  the  Samoans,  and  that  for 
their  good  it  was  necessary  that  this 
wicked  war  should  cease,  and  to  make 
sure  that  it  would  cease  the  Commis- 
sioners believed  it  necessary  to  compel 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        59 

all  Samoans  to  give  up  their  arms,  break 
up  their  camps,  and  return  to  their 
people  and  homes;  that  there  could  be 
no  permanent  peace  so  long  as  they  were 
permitted  to  have  guns  at  their  homes 
or  were  permitted  to  gather  together  in 
camps  as  if  ready  for  war. 

This  in  substance,  and  much  more  of  a 
similar  character,  was  conmiunicated  to 
Mataafa  and  his  chiefs,  and  the  Commis- 
sioners paused  for  reply.  Without  com- 
munication with  his  chiefs,  Mataafa 
drew  himself  up  to  his  full  height,  and 
slowly  and  mth  great  dignity  replied 
that  he  had  read  and  heard  of  the  wealth 
and  power  of  the  great  nations  from 
which  the  Commissioners  came ;  that  the 
Samoans  had  nothing  but  thanks  to  re- 
turn to  the  great  powers  for  what  they 
had  done  for  his  people  in  sending  the 
missionaries  to  teach  them  to  be  good, 
and  to  read  and  write.  He  was  sorry 
that  the  great  powers  were  displeased 
with  the  Samoans  now,  but  that  it  was 


60        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

not  the  fault  of  his  people.  It  was  the 
Tanu  people  who  had  gone  to  war 
against  them ;  that  his  people  had  made 
him  King  against  his  will,  but  that  under 
Samoan  laws  and  customs  he  must  obey 
their  will;  that  the  Tanu  men  had  vio- 
lated those  laws  and  customs  and  had 
refused  to  recognize  him  as  King  but  had 
declared  war  against  which  his  people 
must  defend ;  that  he  wanted  peace,  and 
all  his  people  wanted  peace,  and  they 
wanted  to  obey  the  Commissioners  whom 
the  great  powers  had  sent,  but  his 
people  would  be  pleased  to  know  if  they 
laid  down  their  arms  who  was  to  be  their 
King.  Were  they  to  be  disarmed  and 
not  their  enemies,  and  were  they  to  be- 
come subjects  of  a  King  they  had  never 
elected,  and  whom  they  had  already 
conquered  ?  These  were  questions  which 
first  occurred  to  his  people ;  that  as  to  the 
question  of  arms,  did  the  Commission- 
ers know  that  these  guns  which  they 
asked  to  have  surrendered  did  not  belong 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        61 

to  him  nor  to  the  tribes  over  which  he 
ruled,  but  that  they  were  private  proi^- 
erty,  and  to  each  Samoan  belonged  his 
own  gun ;  that  each  had  bought  and  paid 
for  it  to  the  traders  at  a  great  price, 
sometimes  even  as  high  as  a  hundred 
dollars  for  a  single  gun.  They  loved 
their  guns ;  they  had  cut  much  copra  and 
worked  hard  to  obtain  them.  Did  the 
Commissioners  think  it  w^as  right  that 
the  first  act  on  their  part  as  representa- 
tives of  the  greatest  and  richest  nations 
of  the  earth  should  be  to  compel  the  poor 
and  ignorant  Samoans  to  surrender  up 
their  property  to  those  who  did  not  need 
it;  that  the  rich  should  take  from  the 
poor,  what  to  them  was  so  much;  that 
the  strong  should  with  threats  of  force 
compel  unwilling  action  of  the  weak; 
that  Christian  nations  should  send  their 
missionaries  to  teach  them  morals,  and 
their  Commissioners  and  soldiers  to  de- 
prive them  of  their  liberty,  and  prop- 
erty ?   He  loved  peace,  his  people  desired 


62       MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

peace,  but  they  would  not  be  a  party  to 
a  peace  that  robbed  them  of  their  prop- 
erty and  their  honor.  They  preferred 
to  become  slaves,  if  they  must,  by  com- 
pulsion and  not  by  cowardly  submission. 
He  ceased  speaking,  and  the  Commis- 
sioners, after  a  hasty  consultation, 
replied  that  they  were  not  sent  here  to 
rob  Samoans  of  their  liberty,  their  prop- 
erty, or  their  honor.  The  first  object  of 
the  Commissioners  was  peace.  Did  Ma- 
taafa  and  his  peojple  want  peace,  then 
they  would  listen  to  and  obey  the  Com- 
missioners. They  did  not  want  the  guns 
of  Mataafa,  these  guns  were  of  no  use  to 
the  great  powers.  Where  the  guns  of 
Mataafa  would  shoot  100  yards,  those  of 
the  great  powers  would  shoot  300 ;  and 
where  they  could  load  and  fire  their  guns 
a  single  time,  the  guns  of  the  great 
powers  could  be  discharged  fifty  or  a 
hundred  times.  The  Commissioners 
asked  the  surrender  of  these  guns  as  a 
pledge  of  good  faith  that  the  tribes  of 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        63 

Mataafa  did  in  fact  want  and  would 
maintain  peace. 

The  great  powers  would  not  penna- 
nently  deprive  them  of  their  property, 
but  the  Commissioners  would  promise 
them  that,  if  they  in  good  faith  would 
surrender  their  arms,  then  when  peace 
was  established  every  gun  should  be  re- 
turned or  paid  for  at  a  fair  valuation ; 
that  it  was  no  time  now  to  talk  as  to  who 
should  be  King,  nor  would  the  Commis- 
sioners make  any  intimation  as  to  the 
future  government  of  the  islands  until 
native  Samoans  lay  down  their  guns 
and  return  to  their  homes  in  submission 
to  the  orders  of  the  great  nations. 
Would  Mataafa  do  this  ?  Let  him  speak 
for  himself. 

Mataafa  again  slowly  arose  without 
consultation  with  a  single  chief.  His 
eye  was  bright  and  his  voice  clear,  and 
he  said  with  inquiring  tone,  '*If  Mataafa 
lays  down  his  anns  will  all  Samoans  lay 
down  theirs  ?    Will  Malietoa  Tanu,  will 


64        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

Temesese  give  up  their  guns?''  Tlien 
pausing  for  a  reply,  the  Commissioners 
answered  that  all  Samoans  would  be  re- 
quired to  do  so.  ^' Will  the  British  rifles 
be  taken  away  from  them  and  returned 
to  the  fleet?"*  ^^Yes."  Then  slowly  he 
repeated,  ^^I  understand  the  Commis- 
sioners to  say  that  if  Mataaf  a  surrenders 
his  guns,  Malietoa  Tanu  and  his  chiefs 
shall  surrender  theirs,  including  all  guns 
lent  them  by  the  British  ships ;  that  when 
peace  is  established  these  guns  shall  be 
returned  or  paid  for  by  the  great  pow- 
ers, at  a  fair  valuation."  The  Commis- 
sioners replied  that  his  statement  was 
correct.  Then  with  great  dignity,  and 
while  yet  standing,  he  said,  ^^  Mataaf  a 
accepts  the  Commissioners'  terms.  He 
will  surrender  his  guns,"  and  sat  down. 

The  ending  was  so  sudden,  the  great 
object  sought  had  been  reached  so  quick- 
ly and  unexpectedly,  that  at  first  the 
Commissioners  were  unable  to  compre- 
hend its  real  effect.    After  a  few  mo- 


ferir*^" 


m 


^*  ^  ■  -.'{ 


^«je 


WATKRFALL    NEAR    AQUIA,    400    FEET    HIGH 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        65 

ments  in  exchange  of  words  with  the 
interpreter  to  make  sure  that  no  mistake 
had  been  made  in  the  replies  of  Mataaf  a, 
the  Commissioners  thanked  Mataaf  a  for 
the  promptness  with  which  he  had  com- 
plied with  their  request,  and  said  that 
while  they  had  no  doubt  of  his  power 
and  authority  to  speak  for  all,  it  would 
please  the  Commissioners  to  know  that 
each  chief  present  agreed  with  the  prop- 
osition made  by  the  Commissioners  and 
consented  to  by  Mataaf  a.  Slowly  and  in 
a  dignified  way  he  addressed  each  chief, 
and  they  replied  to  the  Commissioners 
that  all  were  agreed.  The  Connnission- 
ers  then  advised  Mataafa  that  they  de- 
sired him  to  return  to  his  people  and  to 
call  all  his  chiefs  into  council  and  inform 
them  of  the  proposition  of  the  Commis- 
sioners and  of  his  consent  to  it,  and  to 
advise  the  Commissioners  on  the  follow- 
ing morning  whether  his  consent  met 
with  the  entire  and  unanimous  approval 
of  his  chiefs ;  that  his  messenger  would 


66        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

be  passed  through  the  lines  and  fur- 
nished safe  escort  for  return ;  that  if  all 
consented  the  Badger  would  weigh 
anchor  and  proceed  to  Malie  on  Thurs- 
day, the  25th  of  May  next,  to  receive  the 
guns,  and  on  the  same  day  would  re- 
quire the  surrender  of  those  of  Malietoa 
Tanu.  They  arose  to  go,  but  the  Com- 
missioners requested  them  to  be  seated, 
and  had  brought  in  sea  biscuits,  tea,  and 
canned  meats,  which  were  furnished 
them  in  Samoan  style.  All  the  chairs 
were  removed  and  they  sat  on  the  floor 
with  their  feet  drawn  under  them,  as 
the  tailor  sits  upon  his  bench,  while  the 
stewards  distributed  the  biscuits,  meat, 
and  tea  among  them.  When  they  had 
eaten  and  drunk  to  their  satisfaction, 
they  bade  the  Commissioners  good-by, 
and  took  their  places  in  their  boats  with 
evident  feelings  of  good  intent  to  carry 
out  the  agreement  they  had  made.  As 
they  rowed  away  with  their  gay  flags  and 
banners  waving  in  the  light  of  the  setting 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        67 

sun,  singing  their  native  songs  accom- 
panied by  the  music  of  their  native  in- 
struments, it  made  one  of  the  most 
imique  and  picturesque  scenes  I  have 
ever  witnessed. 

The  next  day  early  came  a  messenger 
from  Mataafa  and  his  thirteen  chiefs, 
with  a  note  signed  by  Mataafa  in  person, 
stating  that  he  had  called  together  his 
chiefs  as  requested  by  the  Commission- 
ers and  told  them  the  proposition  as  to 
the  surrendering  of  their  arms,  and  that 
all  were  agreed  thereto  but  deemed  the 
date  named,  to  wit.  May  25th  inst.,  too 
short  a  time  to  enable  them  to  get  some 
of  the  guns  from  the  distant  islands,  and 
suggested  May  31st,  instead,  as  the  day 
when  they  believed  all  could  be  obtained. 
The  Commissioners  replied  by  note  re- 
turned by  the  same  messenger  that  the 
day  named  by  Mataafa  was  agreeable  to 
them  and  that  on  the  morning  of  that 
day,  to  wit.  May  31st,  they  would  come 
with  their  vessel  to  Malie  to  receive  the 


68        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

guns,  and  the  messenger  after  being  fed 
was  escorted  through  the  lines  on  his  re- 
turn to  Mataaf  a 's  camp. 

Malietoa  Tanu  and  his  chiefs  were 
now  informed  of  the  requirements  made 
of  Mataaf a  to  surrender  up  their  guns, 
and  that  the,y  too  would  be  required  to 
surrender  up  their  guns  at  the  same  time, 
to  which  they  gave  a  ready  consent  con- 
ditioned upon  the  surrender  being  first 
made  by  Mataafa  and  his  men.  It  be- 
came known  now  to  some  extent  that 
negotiations  were  pending  for  surrender 
of  the  Samoan  guns,  and  it  w^as  regarded 
generally  as  chimerical  by  naval  men,  by 
traders,  and  by  missionaries  alike, 
^rhey  told  the  Commissioners  that  they, 
the  natives,  would  pretend  to  obey  the 
order  and  would  bring  in  their  old  and 
worthless  guns  and  surrender  them,  but 
it  was  hopeless  to  expect  that  they  would 
surrender  those  of  modern  pattern  and 
such  as  would  be  of  service  in  the  field. 
The  Commissioners,  however,  w^ere  not 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        69 

discouraged  but  set  to  work  to  ascertain 
how  many  guns  were  in  possession  of  the 
Samoans  and  of  what  make.  This  could 
be  easily  done  as  to  the  soldiers  of  Mal- 
ietoa  Tanu,  who  were  largely  under 
British  officers  and  British  control,  and 
through  friendly  Samoans  and  the  trad- 
ers and  missionaries  they  were  able  to 
determine  with  considerable  exactness 
the  number  and  make  of  the  guns  in  the 
hands  of  Mataafa's  men. 

The  time  prior  to  the  day  set  for  the 
delivery  of  these  guns  was  an  anxious 
one  to  the  Commissioners.  Much  of 
their  success  depended  upon  disarma- 
ment. Once  disai-med  the  war  was  at  an 
end,  safety  of  the  people  was  assured, 
confidence  was  inspired  in  the  Commis- 
sioners, and  the  remainder  of  their  work 
would  be  easy  of  accomplishment ;  while 
a  failure  would  be  disastrous  in  its  re- 
sults ;  the  lack  of  confidence  in  the  Com- 
missioners, already  weak,  would  be 
increased,  and  victory  of  the  natives  in 


70        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

their  disobedience  to  the  first  orders  of 
the  Commissioners  would  make  any 
subsequent  effort  at  disarmament  nearly 
if  not  quite  imiDossible,  and  would  em- 
barrass their  efforts  to  maintain  peace  or 
any  attempt  to  establish  a  form  of  gov- 
ernment among  the  people.  The  arts  of 
diplomacy  were  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  question.  Men  friendly  to  Mataaf a 
explained  to  him  how  all  his  interests 
were  directly  in  the  line  of  obedience  to 
the  will  of  the  Commissioners.  The  de- 
cision of  the  Chief  Justice  had  given  the 
position  of  King  to  his  enemy,  Malietoa 
Tanu.  If  the  Commissioners  sustained 
the  action  of  the  Chief  Justice,  Mataaf  a 
was  a  rebel  and  liable  to  be  sent  again 
into  exile  or  be  subject  to  worse  punish- 
ment still.  They  showed  him  that  in  any 
event  his  interests  pointed  to  an  early 
cultivation  of  good  will  on  the  part  of  the 
Commissioners,  especially  in  a  matter  so 
vital  to  the  interests  of  Samoans  as  im- 
mediate peace  on  these  islands,  which 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        71 

could  only  be  made  permanent  by  dis- 
armament of  all. 

These  and  whatever  other  arguments 
unknown  to  the  Commissioners  were 
used  with  Mataafa  had  their  effect,  and 
it  was  evident  from  the  first  and  contin- 
ued to  be  to  the  last  that  he  was  disposed 
in  every  way  possible  to  carry  out  to  the 
letter  the  wishes  and  requirements  of 
the  Commissioners,  and  while  they  made 
and  authorized  no  promises  to  be  made 
to  him  directly  or  indirectly  as  to  the  ef- 
fect that  his  conduct  might  have  upon 
the  treatment  he  might  receive  person- 
ally from  the  Commissioners,  it  was  very 
evident  that  his  conduct  and  the  exercise 
of  his  great  influence  in  behalf  of  im- 
mediate disarmament  were  largely  af- 
fected by  considerations  for  his  personal 
safety  as  w^ell  as  regard  for  the  interests 
of  those  who  still  recognized  him  as 
King.  The  Samoans,  though  governed 
by  selfish  interests  like  all  human  beings, 
have  perhaps  as  little  of  such  feeling  as 


72        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

any  other  race.  They  have  no  love  of 
property,  like  their  brothers  of  the  tem- 
perate zone.  Their  property  rights  are 
almost  entirely  communal,  their  lands, 
trees,  fruits,  game,  everything  upon 
which  they  depend  for  food  or  clothing 
belong  in  common  to  the  tribe.  They 
have  only  what  is  within  their  imme- 
diate control,  the  houses  they  have  built, 
the  mats  they  have  made,  the  fruits  they 
have  gathered  which  they  can  call  their 
own,  and  in  these  even  they  have  no  fixed 
and  determined  right.  If  they  have 
more  than  their  relations,  by  the  laws 
of  the  tribe  they  must  share  to  the  last 
of  that  which  they  have ;  and  since  there 
is  little  to  stimulate  ambition  for  accum- 
ulation there  is  nothing  to  encourage 
the  growth  of  a  selfish  desire  for  prop- 
erty, and  the  love  of  liberty,  therefore,  is 
the  great  controlling  influence  in  direct- 
ing the  movement  of  Samoan  action. 
Mataafa's  long  years  of  exile  had  left 
their  sad  impression  upon  his  declining 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        73 

yeai's.  He  was  an  old  man  by  Samoan 
law,  perhaps  sixty  years  of  age,  and  he 
knew  by  stern  nature 's  law  that  his  work 
was  nearly  done,  and  the  ambition  which 
could  most  influence  his  future  action 
was  to  be  permitted  to  die  and  be  buried 
with  his  fathers  after  the  manners  and 
customs  of  Samoa. 

This  was  the  successful  plea  that 
moved  the  foreign  consuls  as  represen- 
tatives of  their  nations  to  permit  his 
return  from  exile  at  Jaluit,  and  it  was 
the  great  influence  that  actuated  Ma- 
taafa  in  yielding  ready  obedience  to  the 
requirements  of  the  Commission.  This 
was  well  known  to  the  Commissioners 
themselves,  and  while  they  could  not  use 
it  in  direct  argument  with  Mataaf  a,  they 
could  not  but  feel  and  know  that  Ma- 
taafa  was  sufficiently  human  and  pos- 
sessed of  intelligence  and  ability 
sufficient  to  direct  his  action  by  such 
conduct  as  would  appear  to  best  subserve 
his  OAvn  interests  and  those  of  his  people, 


74       MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

and  they  were  not  disappointed  in  the 
result. 

THE  ARMS  SURRENDERED 

On  the  morning  of  May  31,  1899,  the 
Badger  Aveighed  anchor,  and  with  the 
three  flags,  that  of  England,  of  Germany, 
and  the  United  States,  unfurled,  the 
Commissioners'  vessel  stood  out  from 
the  little  harbor  of  Apia,  rounded  the 
point  of  Mulinu  which  forms  its  western 
shore,  and  came  to  anchor  off  Malie,  dis- 
tant from  Apia  about  eight  miles,  the 
place  agreed  upon  for  the  surrender  of 
the  guns  by  Mataafa  and  his  men.  As 
we  stood  in  for  the  shore  there  were  vis- 
ible inside  the  reef,  and  not  far  distant, 
the  boats  of  native  Samoans  of  all  sizes, 
from  the  native  canoe  with  its  outrigger, 
to  the  splendid  long,  well-built  boat  with 
awnings  and  double  banks  of  oars,  suf- 
ficient in  size  to  hold  from  three  hundred 
to  three  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and 
working  eighty  oars.    These  boats  were 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        75 

filled  with  natives,  numbering  perhaps 
more  than  two  thousand  in  all,  and  were 
drawn  up,  as  if  in  regular  line,  for  some 
distance  along  the  shore.  Under  the 
glass  we  soon  saw  a  boat  put  off  from 
their  munber  toward  our  ship,  and  as  it 
came  nearer  we  recognized  the  white 
robe  and  stalwart  forms  of  Mataafa  and 
some  of  his  leading  chiefs.  They  were 
dressed  as  on  the  day  of  their  visit  be- 
fore. Their  boat  soon  came  alongside, 
they  climbed  the  gangway  and  were  wel- 
comed on  board  the  Badger  by  the  Com- 
missioners in  person.  Their  greeting 
was  warm  and  cordial,  and  Mataafa  said 
he  had  come  to  fulfil  his  promise  to  the 
Commissioners,  that  the  guns  were  in 
the  boats  off  the  shore  ready  to  be  deliv- 
ered on  board  the  Badger.  They  asked 
him  how^  many  guns  he  had,  and  he  re- 
plied about  1,800.  To  this  the  Commis- 
sioners answered  that  that  was  not  all 
their  guns.  Mataafa  replied,  *^How  well 
the  Commissioners  know. ' '  No,  it  was  not 


76        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

all,  but  it  was  all  that  it  was  possible  to 
obtain  at  this  time ;  that  a  few  were  still 
on  the  island  of  Savaii,  but  the  sea  was  so 
high  his  men  had  not  been  able  to  ap- 
proach the  villages,  and  that  about  200 
were  held  in  the  neutral  villages  on  the 
west  side  of  Upola  which  they  promised 
to  surrender  when  all  were  given  in,  but 
that  these  were  all  which  were  in  the  pos- 
session of  his  soldiers  and  under  his 
command,  and  he  felt  able  to  say  that 
the  200  or  300  remaining  yet  in  the  hands 
of  Samoans  friendly  to  him  would  be 
brought  in  and  delivered  up. 

His  manner  was  frank  and  evinced  an 
earnest  desire  to  be  believed  and  to  com- 
ply with  the  agreement  he  had  made. 
The  Commissioners,  while  they  con- 
cealed their  feelings  from  observation, 
were  surprised  and  delighted  at  the 
alacrity  with  which  the  agreement  of 
Mataafa  had  been  undertaken  and  the 
promptness  with  which  it  was  about  to 
be  carried  into  execution.     They  gave 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        77 

orders  to  have  the  guns  brought  on 
board,  those  belonging  to  each  tribe 
under  the  supervision  of  its  chief,  and 
that  receipts  be  issued  to  each  chief  de- 
scribing the  number  and  character  of  the 
guns  so  received  from  his  tribe.  The 
Conunissioners  had  taken  the  precaution 
to  have  such  receipts  drawn  up  in  form 
ready  to  be  filled  in  as  they  were  needed, 
so  that  the  entire  task  of  receiving  and 
receipting  for  the  guns  and  ammunition 
was  the  work  of  a  few  hours  only.  When 
this  was  done,  the  Commissioners  again 
invited  Mataaf a  and  his  principal  chiefs 
on  board  and  fed  them  on  sea  bread, 
meats,  and  tea,  and  they  left  the  vessel 
apparently  as  happy  as  though  they  had 
received  some  great  l)ounty  from  the 
great  powers  instead  of  surrendering  up 
what  next  to  their  homes  and  families 
were  the  dearest  friends  they  had  on 
earth.  Several  old  chiefs  desired  to  have 
photographs  of  their  guns,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  their  wishes  the  artists  on 


78        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

shipboard  took  pictures  of  themselves 
with  their  guns  in  their  hands,  copies  of 
which  pictures  were  afterwards  given  to 
these  chiefs.  Nearly  all  kissed  their  guns 
at  parting  with  them,  and  then  went 
cheerfully  to  their  boats  and  returned 
to  the  shore. 

Our  vessel,  which  now  in  its  hold  bore 
the  appearance  of  an  arsenal,  weighed 
anchor,  and  we  steamed  around  into  the 
harbor  of  Apia,  prepared  to  demand  and 
receive  the  guns  of  Malietoa  Tanu. 
These  guns  surrendered  were  of  every 
make  and  description,  needle  guns,  Win- 
chesters, Springfield  rifles,  Mausers,  etc., 
some  nearly  useless  from  exposure  to 
weather,  but  many  of  newest  patterns 
and  kept  clean  and  bright.  We  arrived 
off  Apia  and  cast  anchor  in  its  harbor  too 
late  to  gather  in  all  the  guns  from  the 
Tanu  men  that  night,  but  received  a 
large  number  which  came  over  after 
dark,  and  the  next  morning  the  remain- 
der were  surrendered,  700  in  all,  together 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        79 

with  about  700  British  rifles  returned  to 
the  British  vessels  in  the  harbor.  These 
guns,  like  those  obtained  from  Mataafa, 
were  of  very  different  makes  and  de- 
scriptions, and  they  formed  a  motley  lot 
as  they  were  deposited  in  the  great  hold 
of  our  vessel,  arranged  in  order  only  by 
the  tribes  to  which  each  lot  belonged. 
The  natives  were  disarmed ! ! 

This  result  was  accomplished  without 
friction  and  Avithout  apparent  effort. 
We  knew  almost  to  a  gun  how  many 
there  were  on  the  islands,  and  we  knew 
that  Mataafa 's  statement  as  to  the  num- 
ber yet  undelivered  was  practically  cor- 
rect, and  we  had  every  reason  to  believe 
that  these  would  soon  be  surrendered. 
The  Commissioners  were  happy,  naval 
officers,  traders,  and  missionaries  were 
surprised,  and  everybody  felt  and  knew 
that  the  war  was  at  an  end  and  that  the 
people  and  their  property  were  safe. 
Confidence  in  the  Commissioners  too  was 
at  once  established.    That  ^*  nothing  sue- 


80        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

ceeds  like  success"  was  never  more  truly 
verified  than  in  the  disarmament  of  the 
Samoans. 

From  now  on  the  work  of  the  Commis- 
sioners was  easy.  The  natives  were  their 
friends  by  the  very  obedience  they  had 
yielded,  and  a  kindly  feeling  came  to 
exist  on  the  part  of  the  Commissioners 
towards  them  for  the  confidence  mani- 
fested and  the  ready  obedience  observed 
by  them  in  the  surrender  of  their  arms. 
At  the  same  time  distrust  on  the  part  of 
officials  and  citizens  had  given  place  to 
confidence  and  a  desire  to  aid  the  Com- 
missioners in  the  work  they  came  to  do. 

COMMISSIONERS  ISSUE  A  PROCLAMATION 

The  Commissioners  after  taking  up 
the  guns  at  Mulinu  immediately  issued 
a  proclamation  giving  the  natives  until 
June  20,  1899,  within  which  to  bring  in 
and  surrender  to  the  Commissioners  all 
guns  and  ammunition  yet  held  by  them, 
after  which  time  all  natives  found  with 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        81 

guns,  firearms  of  any  kind,  or  ammuni- 
tion would  be  ])unished  by  fine,  im^jrison- 
ment,  or  both.  This  proclamation  was 
printed  in  the  native  language  and  sent 
to  all  the  islands  for  distribution.  Within 
the  time  granted  by  the  proclamation 
nearly  every  gun,  pistol,  and  firearm  of 
every  variety  was  brought  in  and  given 
up  and  receipts  taken.  The  chiefs  them- 
selves used  every  effort  to  see  that  the 
proclamation  was  complied  with,  and  on 
the  last  day  allowed  by  the  terms  of  the 
proclamation  a  consignment  of  55  guns, 
which  had  been  delayed  by  high  winds 
or  storms,  was  brought  in  from  Savaii 
and  delivered  to  the  Commissioners. 
This  made  in  all  nearly  4,000  guns  sur- 
rendered to  the  Commissioners,  besides 
the  British  guns  returned  to  the  vessels. 

THE  NATIVE  ARMIES  DISBAND 

The  task  of  the  Commissioners  was 
now  an  easy  one.  The  two  native  armies 
at  once  disbanded,  and  began  to  return  to 


82        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

the  islands  and  districts  to  which  they 
belonged. 

The  cruisers  and  gunboats  in  the  har- 
bor were  used  by  the  Commissioners  in 
sending  back  those  belonging  to  Tutuila 
and  the  more  distant  islands  of  the 
group.  Some  of  the  chiefs,  with  a  por- 
tion of  their  men,  were  disposed  to 
remain  about  Apia  until  the  Commis- 
sioners had  determined  upon  the  form  of 
government  to  be  adopted  on  the  islands. 
Some  of  the  followers  of  Malietoa  Tanu, 
whose  homes  were  on  the  island  of  Upola, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  Apia,  continued  to 
camp  at  Mulinu  and  its  immediate  vicin- 
ity, which  excited  a  jealousy  on  the  part 
of  the  followers  of  Mataafa  and  a  fear 
that  the  adherents  of  Tanu  were  to  re- 
ceive a  different  treatment  from  them- 
selves in  the  formation  of  the  new 
government ;  so  that  the  Commissioners 
were  obliged  to  issue  a  proclamation 
requiring  all  natives  lately  in  arms  to 
return  to  their  homes  and  tribes. 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        83 

THE  FUTURE  GOVERNMENT  CONSIDERED 

The  Commissioners  now  took  up  the 
question  of  the  future  government  of  the 
islands.  The  Commissioners  were 
clothed  with  absolute  power  to  institute 
a  provisional  government,  and  to  recom- 
mend a  form  of  permanent  government 
for  the  future.  The  only  lunitation 
placed  upon  their  conduct  was  a  unity  of 
action.  Each  Commissioner  must  con- 
sent to  the  action  of  the  other  Commis- 
sioners to  make  their  action  binding 
upon  all  the  governments,  and  this  pro- 
vision, which  was  supposed  to  be  an 
element  of  weakness  and  which  would 
preclude  any  decisive  action  on  the  part 
of  the  Commissioners,  proved  to  be  an 
element  of  strength.  Each  Commis- 
sioner was  thereby  made  conservative 
and  considerate  in  the  propositions 
advanced  which  concerned  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  other  powers  and 
which  were  to  be  affected  thereby,  and  it 


84        MY  TBIP   TO   SAMOA 

became,  in  their  deliberations,  an  abso- 
lute bar  to  partisan  discussions  and  a 
check  upon  advancement  of  claims  of  a 
purely  selfish  or  individual  character. 
Each  Commissioner  was  anxious  to  ac- 
complish the  objects  and  purposes  of 
the  Commission,  and  to  do  so  he  knew  it 
was  necessar}^  to  so  govern  his  own  ac- 
tions as  to  obtain  the  approval  of  both 
the  other  Commissioners,  and  that  this 
could  be  done  only  by  such  mutual 
concessions  as  honorable  men  might  hon- 
estly make  in  the  interest  of  a  necessary 
and  common  object.  The  result  was, 
therefore,  the  opposite  of  what  had  been 
so  confidently  predicted.  The  commis- 
sion was  harmonious  from  the  first,  and 
its  results  show  a  unanimity  upon  all 
important  questions  from  their  first  con- 
sideration. 

After  the  disarmament  the  commis- 
sion took  up  the  question  of  provisional 
and  permanent  govermnent  in  earnest. 
Interviews  were  continued,  at  the  rooms 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        85 

of  the  Commissioners,  in  the  form  of 
questions  and  answers,  with  all  the  lead- 
ing white  men  and  natives  as  to  the  form 
of  government  most  desired  by  and  most 
desirable  for  these  people,  and  the  Com- 
missioners soon  came  to  the  conclusion, 
that  in  the  permanent  form  of  govern- 
ment to  be  recommended,  in  case  the 
great  powers  failed  to  agree  upon  a  di- 
vision of  the  islands,  they  would  advise 
an  abolition  of  the  title  and  office  of 
King.  They  were  quite  unanimous  in 
the  finding  that  the  war  and  strife  here- 
tofore existing  on  these  islands  had  been 
engendered  between  the  tribes  in  the 
attempt  to  elect  a  King  over  all  the 
tribes,  or  by  reason  of  revolt  against  the 
chief  claiming  to  exercise  that  right ;  and 
that  so  long  as  there  were  several  fam- 
ilies eligible  to  such  honor,  and  the  title 
could  therefore  never  become  hereditary 
and  descend  in  a  given  line,  the  office 
must  continue  to  produce  dissension  and 
continue  an  element  of  weakness  rather 


86        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

than  strength  in  the  government  of  these 
islands.  This  seemed,  therefore,  a  most 
opportune  time  to  establish  a  central 
government  by  the  three  powers,  and  to 
obtain  therefor  the  consent  and  approval 
of  all  the  tribes,  each  of  which  would 
prefer  such  a  govermnent  to  that  of  a 
native  King  selected  from  the  opposing 
faction  and  tribe.  The  more  serious  and 
important  question,  however,  now  to  be 
determined  was  the  provisional  govern- 
ment which  must  obtain  until  the  powers 
could  finally  decide  upon  the  future  of 
these  islands.  The  hostility  existing  be- 
tween the  adherents  of  Mataafa  and 
Tanu  had  extended  itself  to  the  traders, 
missionaries,  and  the  half-breeds  on  the 
islands.  The  recognition,  therefore,  of 
either  Mataafa  or  Tanu  as  King  would 
meet  with  the  united  opposition  of  the 
other  faction.  It  was  also  doubtful 
whether  the  powers  themselves  would  be 
quite  unanimous  in  favor  of  either  Ma- 
taafa or  Tanu  as  King.    The  question. 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        87 

however,  before  the  Commissioners  was 
a  judicial  one  rather  than  one  of  policy 
or  preference.  The  Chief  Justice,  ap- 
pointed under  the  Berlin  Act,  after  a 
prolonged  investigation  and  trial  in 
which  both  parties  appeared  before  him 
in  i)erson  and  by  counsel  and  submitted 
their  testimony  and  arguments  in  favor 
of  their  resj)ective  sides,  had  rendered  a 
formal  judgment  declaring  Malietoa 
Tanu  to  have  been  legally  elected  King 
conformable  to  the  laws  and  customs  of 
Samoa.  The  Commissioners  were  there- 
fore unanimously  of  the  opinion  that 
such  decision  was  not  only  binding  upon 
the  Samoans  but  upon  the  powers  them- 
selves under  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
which  made  the  judgments  of  the  Chief 
Justice  final  in  all  cases  over  which  he 
had  jurisdiction ;  and  to  provide  against 
any  question  as  to  whether  the  election 
of  a  King  might  be  held  to  be  a  question 
of  which  the  court  could  take  jurisdic- 
tion, the  act  specially  provided  that  **  any 


88        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

question  respecting  the  rightful  election 
or  appointment  of  King''  should  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  Chief  Justice  for  decision, 
and  that  ''the  governments  will  accept 
and  abide  by  such  decision.''  If  the  de- 
cision of  the  Chief  Justice  was  not  valid 
and  binding  in  this  case,  any  judgment 
rendered  by  him  during  his  incumbency 
of  office  was  in  like  manner  open  to  re- 
view, and  the  liberty  and  property  of  no 
man  would  be  deemed  secure  so  long  as 
the  decision  of  the  highest  court  could  be 
called  in  question  by  any  person  ag- 
grieved or  affected  thereby,  and  if  the 
Commissioners  assumed  the  power  to  sit 
in  review  of  this  decision,  for  the  rendi- 
tion of  which  special  jurisdiction  had 
been  conferred,  every  person  against 
whom  final  judgment  had  been  rendered 
would  have  the  same  right  and  would 
not  hesitate  to  avail  himself  thereof,  to 
demand  of  the  commission  a  rehearing 
in  his  own  case,  a  task  requiring  perhaps 
several  years  of  hard  and  continuous 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        89 

labor.  Policy,  therefore,  as  well  as 
sound  judgment  and  reason,  dictated 
that  the  commission  could  not  do  other- 
wise than  to  hold  that  the  judgment  of 
the  Chief  Justice  declaring  Tanu  law- 
fully elected  King  was  final  and  not  sub- 
ject to  review  by  the  Commissioners; 
and  in  this  conclusion  no  question  was 
raised  or  considered  as  to  the  wisdom  or 
correctness  of  the  decision  itself.  The 
very  finding  that  the  decision  itself  was 
final  precluded  all  inquiry  into  the  cor- 
rectness or  incorrectness  of  the  reason- 
ing by  which  the  court  arrived  at  the 
decision  itself,  and  having  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  court  had  jurisdic- 
tion to  render  the  decision  and  that  such 
decision  was  final  their  inquiry  as  to  the 
decision  was  at  an  end,  except  to  give  it 
construction  and  put  it  into  execution. 
The  commission  had  already  in  an  indi- 
rect way  been  informed  that  Tanu  was 
not  ambitious  to  reign  as  King.  He  had 
before  him  the  example  of  his  father, 


90        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

who  had  been  dethroned  once  by  the 
uncle ;  and  once  by  Mataaf  a ;  and  during 
the  period  of  time  he  was  permitted  to 
reign,  a  large  number  of  the  more  im- 
portant tribes  were  continually  in  revolt. 
Besides,  if  the  powers  should  follow  the 
recommendations  of  the  Commissioners, 
as  they  probably  would,  and  finally 
abolish  the  title  of  King  his  reign  at 
most  would  be  a  short  one  and  one  for 
which  he  must  expect  to  contend  with 
arms.  A  weak,  unambitious  boy,  he 
preferred  to  obtain  an  education  and 
lead  a  life  of  independence,  if  not  of  ease. 
The  solution  became  then  an  easy  one, 
and  while  it  would  not  be  fair  to  say  that 
the  expected  resignation  of  Tanu  could 
have  influenced  the  action  of  any  Com- 
missioner in  coming  to  the  conclusion 
that  Tanu  was  legally  elected  King,  yet 
it  may  be  safely  inferred  that  such  infor- 
mation did  not  decrease  the  alacrity 
with  which  such  decision  was  made.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  this  conclusion  was 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        91 

readied  the  Commissioners  sent  for 
Tanu  and  informed  him  that  they  had 
sustained  the  decision  of  the  Chief  Jus- 
tice, by  which  he  had  been  declared  King, 
but  that  they  had  come  to  the  further 
conclusion  that  the  title  of  King  had 
produced  much  of  the  strife  and  disturb- 
ance in  tliese  islands  and  that  they  should 
recommend  to  their  governments  its 
final  abolition.  Tanu  immediately  re- 
plied that  he  had  carefully  considered 
the  matter  and  had  determined  to  tender 
his  resignation  to  the  commission.  He 
said  he  was  mindful  of  his  poor  father's 
unhappy  life ;  that  he  did  not  believe  it 
was  possible  for  him  or  any  other  chief 
to  be  King  over  the  tribes  of  all  the 
islands  and  maintain  his  supremacy 
peaceably;  that  he  preferred  peace  to 
war,  and  that  as  he  was  already  in- 
formed the  Commissioners  were  in  fa- 
vor of  a  final  abolition  of  the  title  of 
King,  he  did  not  care  to  contend  for  what 
he  deemed  an  empty  honor  for  so  short 


92        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

a  time  and  if  agreeable  to  the  Commis- 
sioners he  desired  to  tender  his  resig- 
nation at  once.  To  this  the  Commission- 
ers replied  that  his  resignation  would  be 
accepted  if  so  desired,  but  that  it  should 
be  in  writing,  that  the  record  of  the  same 
could  be  preserved  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  commission.  He  promised  he 
would  do  so  and  the  resignation  was  ac- 
cordingly drawn  up  in  form,  signed,  and 
sent  to  the  Commissioners  on  the  same 
or  the  following  da}^ 

THE  TITLE  OF  KING  IS  ABOLISHED 

A  proclamation  was  accordingly 
thereafter,  on  the  10th  day  of  June,  1899, 
issued,  signed  by  the  three  Commission- 
ers, informing  the  people  that  the  Com- 
missioners had  sustained  the  decision  of 
the  Chief  Justice  declaring  Tanu  King, 
that  Tanu  had  resigned,  that  the  Com- 
missioners had  thereupon  abolished  the 
title  of  King,  and  that  during  the  stay  of 
the  Commissioners  upon  the  islands  the 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        93 

powers  of  King  and  councillors  would 
be  exercised  b}^  the  three  consuls;  and 
that  Dr.  Solf ,  the  newly  appointed  Pres- 
ident of  the  Municipal  Council,  would 
enter  upon  and  discharge  the  duties  of 
that  office.  The  President  of  the  Muni- 
cipal Council  was  the  executive  officer  of 
the  city  of  Apia,  the  only  municipal 
government  on  the  islands,  and  by  virtue 
of  his  position,  acted  as  councillor  to 
the  King.  These  officers  had  been  par- 
celled out  among  the  several  nations ;  to 
Germany  had  been  accredited  the  office 
of  President  of  the  Municipal  Council  of 
Apia,  and  to  the  United  States  that  of 
Chief  Justice.  Dr.  Solf  had  been  recent- 
ly appointed  and  had  awaited  the  arrival 
of  the  Commissioners  before  entering 
upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  for  under 
the  terms  of  the  Berlin  Act  he  was  nom- 
inated by  Germany  but  must  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Samoan  government,  and 
on  his  arrival  in  the  midst  of  the  contro- 
versy between  Mataafa  and  Tanu  he 


94        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

could  not  be  certain  which  contending 
party  constituted  the  government  of 
Samoa,  and  he  had  accordingly  awaited 
the  determination  of  the  commission. 
This  proclamation  was  translated  into 
the  native  language  and  sent  to  every 
tribe  for  distribution,  and  was  received 
everywhere  with  approval.  The  chiefs 
and  their  retainers  generally  returned  to 
their  homes  in  obedience  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Commissioners.  Tanu  and 
Tamesese,  however,  with  many  of  their 
followers,  remained  at  Mulinu  claiming 
that  this  was  their  home  and  that  the 
property  there  and  in  the  vicinity  be- 
longed to  their  tribes.  We  examined  the 
records  and  found  that  the  point  called 
Mulinu  had  been  ceded  by  the  tribes  to 
the  government  of  Samoa  and  that  in 
accordance  with  this  cession  many  ad- 
herents of  the  different  tribes  had  been 
permitted  to  erect  houses  there  and  to 
remain  at  the  seat  of  government  at  cer- 
tain specified  seasons  of  the  year;  that 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        95 

Tanii's  and  Tamesese's  followers  were 
occupying  houses  claimed  by  followers 
of  Mataafa  and  their  prolonged  resi- 
dence there  was  creating  a  jealousy  in 
the  minds  of  Mataaf  ans,  that  a  discrimi- 
nation was  being  sho^vn  towards  them 
by  the  Commissioners.  Tanu  and 
Tamescse  were  accordingly  summoned 
before  the  Commissioners  and  informed 
that  the  point  called  Mulinu  belonged 
neither  to  the  tribe  of  Mataafa,  Tanu, 
nor  Tamesese,  but  to  the  government  of 
Samoa,  and  while  in  times  of  peace  mem- 
bers of  the  different  tribes  would  be 
permitted  to  occupy  houses  there  belong- 
ing to  them,  that  it  was  deemed  prudent 
and  best  that  Mulinu  should  now  be 
vacated  by  all  parties  until  after  the 
government  was  provisionally  estab- 
lished on  the  islands.  They  seemed  to 
receive  the  words  of  the  Commissioners 
in  a  very  friendly  manner,  but  for  fear 
that  the  motives  of  the  Commissioners  in 
moving  all  parties  from  the  point  of 


96        MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

Mulinu,  which  had  always  been  occupied 
ad  libitmn  by  every  member  of  all  tribes, 
might  be  misinterpreted  or  misunder- 
stood it  was  deemed  wise  to  send  the 
Chief  Justice,  in  whom  all  the  adherents 
of  Malietoa  Tanu  and  Tamesese  had 
great  confidence,  to  explain  fully  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Commissioners.  He  did  so, 
and  without  any  objection  obtained  the 
consent  of  all  the  followers  of  Tanu  and 
Tamesese  immediately  to  remove  from 
Mulinu,  many  of  them  taking  away 
their  houses,  which  occasioned  a  further 
complaint  on  the  part  of  the  Mataafans 
that  they  were  removing  property  be- 
longing to  the  followers  of  Mataafa. 
The  Chief  Justice  was  accordingly  in- 
structed to  hear  and  determine  all  such 
complaints  and  to  prevent  the  removal 
of  any  property  by  persons  not  entitled 
thereto.  This  ended  the  property  diffi- 
culty, and  Mulinu  was  completely  and 
entirely  vacated.  Nearly  all  the  chiefs 
and  their  people  returned  to  their  dis- 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA        97 

tricts  and  homes.  It  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  6,000  warriors  lately  in  arms 
and  in  battle  against  each  other  could 
return  to  their  homes  and  live  together 
in  the  same  community  or  in  proximity 
to  each  other  without  occasional  out- 
breaks and  even  actual  hostilities  at 
times  occurring.  It  w^as  found  that  the 
followers  of  Mataafa  and  Tanu  did  not 
comprise  all  of  any  given  tribe,  but  that 
tribes,  clans,  and  even  families  were  di- 
vided in  their  allegiance  to  the  two 
Kings.  Sometimes  the  father  and  a 
single  son  would  be  found  adherents  of 
Mata  ifa,  while  two  or  three  sons  were 
followers  of  Tanu.  The  war,  therefore, 
between  these  two  chieftains  was  a  civil 
one  in  its  worst  aspects.  And  the  nearer 
and  closer  the  former  relation  between 
individual  opponents  of  the  two  factions 
had  been,  the  more  bitter  now  seemed  to 
be  the  hatred  manifested  toward  each 
other.  Reports  came  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  occasional  outbreaks  in  the 


98        MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

different  islands  where  the  members  of 
a  tribe  who  had  been  soldiers  of  Mataaf  a 
or  Tanu  were  in  a  majority  in  the  local- 
ity and  refused  to  permit  those  who  had 
fought  on  the  opposite  side  to  return  to 
their  former  homes,  or  made  it  so  im- 
pleasant  for  them  that  quarrels  and 
altercations  resulted,  in  which  the 
friends  of  either  party  took  sides,  result- 
ing in  some  cases  in  actual  combat. 
On  several  occasions  knives,  spears,  and 
sometimes  firearms  w^ere  brought  out, 
and  several  persons  lost  their  lives.  In 
one  of  these  unfortunate  neighborhood 
fights  at  Safota  on  the  south  side  of 
Upolu,  opposite  Apia,  the  fight  became  a 
general  one,  two  of  the  sons  of  Suatele, 
the  chief  of  the  tribe,  were  killed  and  sev- 
eral badly  wounded  before  the  chiefs  and 
head  men  could  interfere  and  stop  it.  On 
this  occasion  several  guns  were  un- 
earthed and  brought  into  action.  Sev- 
eral of  the  wounded  were  brought  across 
the  mountains  to  Apia  and  placed  in  the 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA        99 

hospital,  and  the  Commissioners  dis- 
patched the  Torch,  an  English  gunboat, 
to  investigate  the  matter  and  arrest  the 
guilty  parties.  This  the  captain  of  the 
vessel  did  very  satisfactorily,  called  the 
opposing  parties  before  him  and  had  a 
complete  investigation  of  the  cause  of 
the  outbreak,  which  it  appeared  origi- 
nated in  a  personal  quarrel  between  two 
former  soldiers  of  the  opposing  parties 
which  was  taken  up  by  the  friends  of 
either  party  and  thus  became  general. 
These  offenders,  together  with  those 
who  had  the  firearms,  were  arrested  and 
brought  to  Apia  where  they  were  pun- 
ished and  the  firearms  confiscated.  The 
Torch  and  the  German  cruiser  Cormoran 
on  another  occasion  were  sent  to  Savaii 
to  settle  an  outbreak  of  a  similar  char- 
acter, which  thev  did  in  a  similar  man- 
ner.  By  thus  promptly  suppressing 
such  local  quarrels  before  the  friends  of 
either  party  had  been  led  to  take  sides 
peace  was  maintained  on  all  the  islands 


100      MY   TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

and  the  hands  of  the  chiefs  were 
strengthened  so  as  to  enable  them  to 
control  the  strong  warlike  young  men  of 
their  tribes. 

On  the  20th  of  June  the  Mataafan 
principal  chiefs  asked  for  an  audience 
with  the  Commissioners  which  was 
granted,  and  at  2  o  'clock  p.  m.  they  came 
on  board  and  thanked  the  Commission- 
ers for  the  disarmament  of  Tanu  and  his 
men,  for  the  evacuation  of  Mulinu  and 
the  impartial  manner  in  which  all  Sa- 
moans  had  been  treated  by  the  Commis- 
sioners. The  Commissioners  thanked 
them  in  reply  for  their  prompt  compli- 
ance with  the  requests  of  the  Commis- 
sioners and  told  them  that  the  great 
powers  knew  no  difference  between  Ma- 
taafa  and  Tanu  men,  that  all  were 
Samoans  to  them  and  that  they  not  only 
felt  alike  towards  them  all  but  intended 
to  treat  them  all  alike,  and  that  as  the 
Commissioners  representing  their  great 
governments  so  felt  and  acted  towards 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      101 

them,  was  it  too  much  to  hope  and  expect 
that  they  would  in  a  similar  manner  act 
towards  and  treat  each  other?  Each 
chief  at  once  declared  in  a  speech  of 
greater  or  less  length  that  the  ideas  ex- 
pressed by  the  Commissioners  were 
right  and  best  for  Samoans;  that  the 
great  powers  were  friends  to  them  all, 
and  they  must  be  friends  to  each  other ; 
that  they  had  forgiven  their  enemies; 
that  thev  were  now,  thanks  to  the  Com- 
missioners,  no  longer  enemies,  and  that 
they  would  use  all  their  power  and  influ- 
ence to  prevent  any  further  conflicts 
between  the  people  of  the  different 
tribes.  The  Commissioners  then  said  to 
them  that  if  they  meant  all  the  good 
things  they  had  just  said  they  ought  to 
be  willing  to  say  it  to  the  chiefs  of  Tanu 
and  give  pledges  of  their  mutual  good 
faith,  in  their  presence  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  each  other.  They  expressed  a 
willingness  to  do  so,  and  the  Commis- 
sioners thereupon  sent  the  boats  of  the 


102      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

Badger  across  to  Mulinu  and  brought 
over  the  thirteen  chiefs  of  Tanu  and  ad- 
dressed them  in  a  similar  manner  as 
they  had  already  addressed  the  chiefs  of 
Mataafa.  They  also  expressed  a  willing- 
ness to  meet  the  Mataafa  chiefs  and  to 
forever  bury  the  enmity  and  hatred  that 
had  existed  between  them.  The  twenty- 
six  chiefs  of  the  two  great  factions  were 
thereupon  brought  together  in  the  recep- 
tion room  of  the  Commissioners  on  board 
the  Badger,  and  were  presented  to  each 
other  by  the  Commissioners  in  a  short 
speech  detailing  what  had  occurred  be- 
tween themselves  and  the  thirteen  chiefs 
of  either  side  as  to  the  peace  and  friend- 
ship desired  by  the  great  powers  and  the 
willingness  expressed  by  both  sides  to 
give  evidence  of  such  good  intention  on 
their  part  in  the  presence  of  the  Commis- 
sioners. If  they  meant  what  they  had 
said  to  the  Commissioners  they  hoped  to 
see  each  chief  shaking  hands  in  a  friend- 
ly manner  with  every  chief  of  the  oppo- 


MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA      103 

site  party  and  promising  to  use  every 
effort  on  his  part  to  maintain  peace 
between  all  the  members  of  each  tribe. 
Immediately  thereupon  each  chief 
grasped  a  chief  of  the  opposite  party  by 
the  hand  and  in  accordance  with  the 
custom  of  the  tribes  inhaled  his  breath,  a 
custom  which  generally  prevails  in  the 
south  sea  islands  among  the  Polynesian 
races.  Instead  of  kissing  they  bring 
their  noses  together  and  inliale  each 
other's  breath.  This  lasts  for  several 
seconds,  and  the  attitude  of  the  actors  is 
much  the  same  as  in  the  act  of  kissing. 
When  the  chiefs  had  all  shaken  hands 
and  in  this  manner  manifested  a  forgive- 
ness and  reconciliation,  the  Commission- 
ers invited  them  into  the  large  dining 
saloon  where  canned  salmon,  meats,  sea 
biscuits,  and  tea  were  served  them,  after 
which  they  made  speeches,  again  em- 
braced each  other,  and  having  bidden  the 
Commissioners  good-by,  promising  to  do 
everything  in  their  power  to  maintain 


104      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

peace  among  their  people,  departed  to 
their  boats  and  homes. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  SAMOANS 

It  was  a  unique  sight  to  see  these  old 
warriors  who  had  been  in  arms  fighting 
against  each  other  for  several  months 
now  shaking  hands  and  embracing  each 
other  as  the  best  of  friends.  The  Sa- 
moans  are  a  light-hearted,  good-natured 
people,  a  passionate,  emotional  race, 
quick  to  resent  and  ready  to  forgive. 
They  have  nothing  stolid  or  revengeful 
in  their  nature,  nothing  sullen  or  treach- 
erous in  their  character.  They  are  all 
an  amiable,  simple,  confiding  people. 
The  native  races  of  North  America 
could  never  have  been  brought  to  such 
a  reconciliation.  No  other  race  of  peo- 
pe  on  the  globe  perhaps  are  angered  so 
quickly  and  forgive  so  readily.  This 
hasty,  impulsive  action  has  sometimes 
earned  for  them  a  character  inclined  to 
suspicion  and  treachery,  but  nothing  is 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      105 

farther  from  the  character  of  the  na- 
tive Samoan.  His  impulsive  nature 
leads  him  to  sudden  and  often  erroneous 
conclusions,  and  his  confiding  nature  is 
often  deceived  by  untruthful  and  mis- 
leading statements,  so  that  his  conclu- 
sions founded  upon  bases  insufficient  for 
more  deliberate  and  reasoning  minds 
sometimes  may  bear  resemblance  to  sus- 
picion and  treachery,  but  his  character 
is  free  from  that  evil  distrust  or  want 
of  confidence  which  is  the  basis  and  the 
origin  of  suspicion.  On  the  contrary, 
the  Samoan  trusts  implicitly  even  him 
by  whom  he  has  often  been  deceived,  and 
instead  of  being  treacherous  he  is  frank 
and  open  hearted  in  all  he  does  and  says, 
but  like  his  reputation  for  suspicion  that 
of  treachery  has  arisen  from  his  excit- 
able nature  which  leads  him.  to  sudden- 
ly reach  a  determination  apparently 
formed  with  deliberation  and  to  break 
without  apparent  reason  a  promise  faith- 
fully made,  not  because  he  had  treach- 


106      MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 

erously  made  it  to  deceive  but  because 
from  some  sudden  change  or  impulse  he 
lias  come  to  a  different  conclusion  to- 
day from  that  at  which  he  arrived  when 
the  promise  was  made.  His  character 
is  free  from  treachery  and  suspicion,  but 
assumes  at  times  that  kaleidoscopic  form 
of  sudden  evolution  which  gives  his  ac- 
tion the  appearance  and  credit  of  both. 
These  chiefs  returned  to  their  people 
and  the  Commissioners  have  every  rea- 
son to  believe  that  their  promises  to  exert 
every  influence  in  their  power  in  behalf 
of  peace  were  faithfully  and  honestly 
kept.  Their  good  offices  were  exercised 
everywhere ;  fighting  almost  wholly 
ceased,  and  whenever  an  outbreak  be- 
came imminent  the  great  powers  and 
influences  of  these  chiefs  were  employed 
to  prevent  a  taking  of  sides  by  the 
friends  of  the  opponents,  and  the  matters 
were  speedily  adjusted  between  the  par- 
ties themselves. 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      107 

PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT  ORGANIZED 

The  commission  immediately  devoted 
its  attention  to  the  organization  of  a  pro- 
visional, and  recommendations  for  a 
permanent,  government.  The  entire 
group  of  islands  was  and  for  some  time 
had  been  under  martial  law.  Sentinels 
were  still  posted  upon  the  streets  of 
Apia.  Every  citizen  who  would  go  from 
one  part  of  the  city  to  another  or  from 
one  part  of  the  islands  to  another  nuist 
give  the  countersign  and  password. 
The  terms  of  some  members  of  the  city 
council  had  expired,  and  the  time  for 
election  had  already  passed.  There  had 
been  for  some  months  a  vacancy  in  the 
office  of  Mayor  or  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil, and  until  the  nomination  of  Dr.  Solf 
no  one  was  authorized  or  qualified  to  act 
in  that  capacity.  Immediately,  there- 
fore, following  the  proclamation  an- 
nouncing the  affirmation  of  the  decision 
of  the  Chief  Justice  and  the  recognition 


108      MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

of  Dr.  Solf  as  President  of  the  Council, 
he  qualified  and  entered  upon  his  duties, 
election  notices  were  issued  to  fill  va- 
cancies in  the  Municipal  Council,  elec- 
tions were  had,  the  municipal  govern- 
ment was  set  in  motion,  and  the  soldiers 
and  marines  were  recalled  to  the  vessels, 
except  a  small  guard  maintained  still  at 
Mulinu  as  a  matter  of  precaution.  Bus- 
iness resumed  its  normal  condition.  The 
war  cloud  which  had  hung  so  ominously 
over  Apia  and  these  beautiful  islands 
had  disappeared,  and  the  sun  of  civil 
liberty  was  now  shining  with  light  un- 
restrained, for  the  benefit  and  protec- 
tion of  all. 

THE  OTHER  ISLANDS  VISITED 

The  Commissioners  now  determined 
to  visit  each  island  that  they  might  the 
better  learn  its  needs  and  advantages, 
and  thus  be  assisted  and  guided  in  mak- 
ing final  reports  to  their  governments. 
Accordingly,  on  the  22nd  of  June,  1899, 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      109 

at  6  o'clock  a.  m.,  the  good  ship  Badger 
weighed  anchor  and  steamed  out  of  the 
little  harbor  of  Apia  in  a  southeast  di- 
rection for  the  distant  island  of  Tu- 
tuila,  fifty  or  sixty  miles  from  Upolu. 
It  was  a  beautiful  day,  like  so  many  at 
this  season  of  the  year  in  this  tropical 
climate.  We  steamed  along  past  the 
eastern  end  of  the  beautiful  island  of 
Upolu,  rising  from  the  sea  with  its  green 
capped  mountain  peaks  in  jagged  and 
serrated  form  against  the  southern  sky 
and  extending  its  protecting  arm  over 
the  adjacent  islands  to  the  east,  w^hich 
seem  to  nestle  closer  and  closer  to  the 
parent  land  of  which  in  the  past  they 
may  have  formed  a  part.  Tutuila  is  in 
sight,  high  out  of  water  with  its  precip- 
itous mountain  peaks,  covered  with 
green  f  oliaged  trees  and  shrubs ;  a  dark 
corrugated  landscape  against  the  eastern 
sky.  We  steam  around  the  southwest- 
ern point  of  land  and  come  to  anchor  off 
Leone  ,Bay,  an  indentation  of  the  coast 


110      MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 

whose  shore  drops  down  into  the  sea  at 
an  angle  so  precipitous  as  to  make  an- 
chorage unsafe  and  insecure.  Our  cap- 
tain learned  that  the  ocean  bed,  or  rather 
the  sloping  mountain  side  which  extend- 
ed beneath  the  sea,  was  rocky  and 
craggy,  into  w^hich  the  anchor  sometimes 
dragged  so  firmly  that  no  force  could 
loosen  or  raise  it  up  again,  so  that  we 
decided  to  spend  but  a  single  night  here, 
giving  our  people  time  only  to  visit  the 
little  village  on  shore  and  the  natives  an 
opportunity  to  come  on  board  and  ex- 
tend through  their  chiefs  their  greetings 
of  welcome  and  thanks  for  the  visit  of  the 
Commissioners  to  their  island  homes. 
There  is  a  very  fine  mission  church  and 
school  here  and  several  traders'  stores, 
and  the  natives,  like  those  of  Upolu,  are 
hospitable  and  kind.  The  chief  of  this 
tribe  with  his  principal  warriors  were 
adherents  of  Malietoa  Tanu  and  had 
recently  been  sent  back  from  Upolu  on 
the  Brutus,  an  American  collier  and 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      111 

cruiser.  Most  of  the  natives  on  the 
island  of  Tutuila  took  sides  with  Tanu. 
My  associates  and  many  of  the  officers 
went  on  shore  during  the  afternoon,  but 
I  remained  on  shipboard  and  contented 
myself  with  viewing  the  little  village, 
the  mission  with  its  trees  and  gardens, 
the  small  plantations  of  cocoanut  pahns, 
and  the  high  mountains  in  the  back- 
ground covered  with  green  forest, 
from  the  vessel's  deck.  The  outline  of 
the  island  as  presented  on  its  approach 
from  the  sea  is  much  the  same  as  that  of 
Upolu.  The  mountains  are  not  so  high 
as  those  of  the  other  islands  but  are  pro- 
portioned somewhat  in  size  with  the 
island  itself.  Savaii  is  about  twenty  by 
twenty-four  miles  in  size,  Upolu  about 
twenty-five  miles  long  and  fifteen  miles 
wide,  and  Tutuila  about  fifteen  miles  in 
length  and  from  three  to  five  miles  in 
width.  The  highest  mountains  in  Savaii 
are  about  5,000  feet  high,  on  Upolu 
about  3,500,  and  on  Tutuila  about  2,500 


112      MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

feet,  while  the  smaller  islands  have  but 
slight  elevations,  varying  from  a  few 
feet  to  a  thousand  feet  according  to  size. 
The  Commissioners  received  the  chiefs 
on  board  the  Badger  in  the  evening. 
They  brought,  according  to  their  custom, 
as  evidence  of  hospitality,  cocoa  nuts, 
bananas,  chickens,  etc.,  Avhich  were  re- 
ceived, and  after  the  fona  (a  name  giv- 
en to  what  we  would  term  an  audience  or 
reception),  the  Conunissioners  gave 
them  in  return  sea  biscuits,  canned 
meats,  and  tea.  They  left  us  exhibiting 
much  good  will  and  a  desire  to  forward 
the  work  of  the  commission  in  founding 
a  permanent  government  for  these 
people.  They  expressed  themselves  as 
very  strongly  opposed  to  the  continu- 
ance of  the  title  of  King  and  declared 
that,  although  they  had  served  in  Tanu's 
army  and  as  against  Mataaf  a  they  were 
in  favor  of  Tanu,  still  they  believed  a 
white  man's  government  better  for  the 
whole  nation,  reserving  to  each  tribe  the 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      113 

right  to  select  its  own  chief.  They 
seemed  very  intelligent  and  understood 
apparently  all  that  the  Commissioners 
told  them.  These  natives  have  much  the 
same  amiability  of  disposition  as  those 
found  on  the  island  of  Upolu,  but  are  not 
as  well  educated  and  informed  as  to  mat- 
ters of  government  and  public  affairs  as 
those  that  have  been  longer  in  direct 
contact  with  the  whites. 

On  the  next  morning,  June  23,  we 
weighed  anchor  and  left  prett.y  Leone 
Bay  and  steamed  around  and  along  the 
south  side  of  Tutuila,  i)assing  an  ex- 
tended strip  of  gently  elevated  coast  and 
shore  extending  back  to  the  mountains 
along  the  south  side  of  the  island  its 
entire  length,  forming  a  beautiful, 
gentle  slope  of  several  thousand  acres, 
which  is  said  to  be  the  largest  extent  of 
level  land  on  this  island,  and  which  is 
covered  with  beautiful  cocoanut  and 
other  fruit  bearing  trees.  We  ap- 
proached the  entrance  to  Pago  Pago 


114      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

harbor  about  nine  o'clock  a.  m.,  after  a 
passage  from  Leone  of  an  hour  or  an 
hour  and  a  half.  The  harbor  is  much 
past  the  center  of  the  island  from  west  to 
east  on  its  south  side  and  towards  its 
eastern  end.  The  entrance  is  well  de- 
fined. The  water  is  deep,  and  the  shores 
on  either  side  are  abrupt  and  high.  We 
turn  from  the  sea  almost  a  complete 
right  angle  to  the  north,  pass  through 
the  entrance,  which  is  perhaps  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  in  width,  and  enter  a 
kind  of  middle  harbor  surrounded  on 
either  side  by  high  and  almost  perpen- 
dicular cliffs.  And  crossing  this  outer 
bay,  perhaps  two  miles  in  length,  we  ap- 
proach the  entrance  to  the  inner  harbor. 
The  entrance  is  partially  closed  by  Goat 
island,  a  small  wooded  tuft  of  rock  and 
land  only  a  few  rods  in  length  and 
width  but  rising  to  several  hundred  feet 
in  height,  and  which  like  a  hooded  sen- 
tinel guards  the  entrance  to  the  inner 
bay.    This  island  is  situated  about  one- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      115 

third  the  distance  across  the  entrance 
from  the  west,  the  main  ship  channel  be- 
ing east  of  the  island  itself.  The  main 
channel  is  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile 
wide,  and  near  its  center  is  a  sunken  rock 
between  which  and  Goat  island  is  the  or- 
dinary passage  for  vessels,  though  ves- 
sels can  pass  between  this  sunken  reef 
and  the  shore.  This  rock  or  sunken  reef 
is  the  only  obstruction  to  the  inner  har- 
bor. It  is,  however,  well  charted,  known 
to  mariners,  and  easily  avoided.  A  buoy 
wiU  soon  be  erected  over  it,  so  that  ves- 
sels can  pass  freely  on  either  side  of  it  in 
deep  water. 

OUR  COALING  STATION  AT  PAGO  PAGO 

Passing  this  narrow  channel,  our  ves- 
sel turns  ahnost  a  right  angle  to  the  west, 
and  we  are  in  the  inner  harbor,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  bodies  of  water  I  have 
ever  seen.  It  resembles  more  some  beau- 
tiful inland  lake  than  a  body  of  salt 
water.    It  is  not  unlike  the  extreme  end 


116      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

of  Lake  Geneva  in  Switzerland  where 
the  high  mountains  towering  above  the 
castle  of  Chillon  look  down  upon  that 
little  inland  sea.  The  mountains  here, 
however,  are  nearer  the  shore  and  more 
precipitous.  The  base  of  the  mountains 
in  places  forming  the  shore  makes  it  dif- 
ficult, except  where  paths  have  been 
made  into  their  steep  sides,  to  walk  along 
the  water's  edge.  At  the  extreme  west- 
em  end  or  head  of  the  bay  is  a  small  strip 
of  level  land  on  which  is  situated  the 
native  village  of  Pago  Pago.  There  is  a 
narrow  shore  on  the  north  side  and  along 
the  south  side  is  another  small  strip  of 
shore,  on  a  portion  of  which  is  being 
erected  a  fine  coaling  station,  a  steel 
wharf  and  sheds,  for  which  Congress  ap- 
propriated $250,000.  A  small  sailing 
vessel  from  San  Francisco  was  lying  in 
the  harbor  when  we  arrived,  having 
brought  lumber  and  various  material  for 
the  wharf  and  sheds.  The  contractor, 
with  a  large  force  of  men,  was  already  at 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      117 

work  upon  the  improvement  and  the 
Aberenda,  a  government  vessel  with 
further  materials,  was  daily  expected 
from  New  York.  The  contractor  told  us 
he  expected  to  have  his  work  completed 
before  the  extreme  warm  weather  set  in, 
which  in  this  climate  is  about  November 
or  December,  the  seasons,  as  is  well 
known,  reversing  themselves  south  of  the 
equator.  By  later  reports  from  Pago 
Pago  we  were  informed  that  the  pier  con- 
structed by  the  government  and  now  ap- 
proaching completion  is  365  feet  long 
and  80  feet  wide,  and  is  made  entirely  of 
steel.  The  piles  themselves  are  of  steel, 
are  nine  inches  in  diameter  and  varying 
in  length  from  thirty  to  seventy  feet. 
On  the  shore  connecting  with  the  wharf 
is  a  large  steel  building  150  feet  long  by 
100  feet  -svide  in  which  the  government 
intends  to  keep  on  hand  at  all  times  not 
less  than  10,000  tons  of  coal.  Another 
building  of  similar  capacity  is  to  be 
erected,  and  when  completed  Pago  Pago 


118      MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

will  be  the  finest  coaling  station  in  the 
world. 

The  government  has  a  title  in  fee  to 
about  fifteen  acres  including,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  a  portion  of  the  level 
land  west  of  Goat  island,  extending  up 
onto  the  summits  of  the  high  hills  or 
mountains  that  guard  the  entrance  to  the 
inner  harbor,  including  Goat  island  it- 
self. The  position  is  a  strategic  one.  A 
single  gun  i)lanted  upon  Goat  island  or 
on  the  heights  opposite  could  easily  de- 
stroy any  vessel  that  sought  to  enter  the 
outer  harbor.  The  whole  harbor  can  be 
as  easily  defended  as  the  approach  to 
Gibraltar  and  without  the  expenditure 
of  money  for  fortifications.  The  fortifi- 
cations nature  has  already  built,  and  all 
that  is  required  is  to  mount  and  man 
the  guns.  The  inner  harbor  is  perhaps 
two  to  three  miles  long,  one  to  two  miles 
wide,  and  very  deep;  in  places  500  to 
1,000  feet.  This  objection  is,  however, 
overcome  by  the  freedom  from  winds 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      119 

which  generally  obtains,  so  that  buoys 
can  be  used  for  the  accommodation  of 
vessels  where  anchorage  is  difficult.  To- 
wards the  west  end  of  the  harbor  the 
water  is  shoaler  and  good  anchorage  can 
be  found  at  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
feet,  and  nearer  the  shore  even  less,  but 
the  northern,  eastern,  and  southern 
shores  are  precipitous  and  the  water  is 
almost  as  deep  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
shore  as  in  the  center  of  the  bay,  so  that 
ships  can  approach  within  a  few  feet  of 
the  shore  itself.  The  coral  reef  here  is 
very  narrow,  generally  but  a  few  feet  in 
width,  and  in  places  not  appearing  at  all. 
The  whole  harbor  is  semicircular  in 
form,  inclining  more  to  that  of  an  ellipse 
having  its  larger  diameter  from  west  to 
east,  and  bears  the  appearance  of  hav- 
ing been  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano. 
The  mountain  sides  in  places  are  more 
than  perpendicular,  and  have  that  par- 
ticularly concave  form  found  in  old 
craters,  although  the  heavy  growth  of 


120      MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 

trees  up  its  sides  to  the  very  summit,  and 
the  influence  of  the  sea  and  elements  have 
somewhat  obscured  and  made  doubtful 
and  difficult  to  trace  the  outlines  of  its 
original  form.  This  harbor,  while  small 
in  extent,  yet  by  reason  of  its  depth  and 
sheltered  position  from  the  winds  is  suf- 
ficient in  size  to  accommodate  any  fleet, 
however  large  in  size,  we  may  desire  to 
send  into  that  portion  of  the  world. 

The  harbors  of  the  south  sea  islands 
are  generally  but  open  roadsteads,  open- 
ings in  the  coral  reef  occasioned  by  en- 
trance of  fresh  water  from  the  land. 
The  little  coral  insect  declines  to  work  in 
fresh  water,  so  that  wherever  there  comes 
down  from  the  moimtains  a  creek,  riv- 
ulet, or  river,  and  empties  into  the  sea 
an  opening  in  the  coral  reef  appears,  and 
a  harbor  varying  in  size  with  the  volume 
of  fresh  water  is  accordingly  formed. 
At  Apia  the  Visigano  river  empties  into 
the  sea.  It  is  a  river  of  some  size,  and 
where  it  comes  down  from  the  mountains 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      121 

it  forms  a  magnificent  waterfall,  which 
is  in  full  view  from  the  harbor  as  you 
enter,  flashing  in  the  sunlight  and  cast- 
ing a  beautiful  rainbow  upon  the  moun- 
tain sides.  The  waterfall  is  distant  from 
Apia  only  about  eight  miles,  but  so  wild 
and  rugged  is  the  country  back  from  the 
coast  that  these  beautiful  falls  are  said 
to  be  almost  inaccessible  and  have  been 
visited  by  but  few  tourists  or  residents 
of  the  islands.  Some  artist  had  had  the 
courage  to  make  the  trip,  and  we  ob- 
tained some  very  good  views  of  this  won- 
derful waterfall  which  is  said  to  be  400 
feet  in  height  and  dashes  over  the  cliff  in 
one  perpendicular  fall.  So  many  fearful 
stories  were  told  us  of  the  rugged  char- 
acter of  the  country  and  the  hardships 
to  be  endured  in  making  this,  so  short  a 
trip,  that  we  deemed  it  prudent  to  con- 
tent ourselves  with  the  artist's  view  and 
our  own  distant  observation  of  the  beau- 
tiful fall  as  seen  from  our  vessel's  deck. 


122      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

AT  TUTUILA 

We  spent  several  days  at  Tutuila,  vis- 
ited and  received  its  chiefs  and  head  men 
on  ship  board.  On  Sunday  we  attended 
the  Congregational  church,  and  heard  a 
native  preacher.  The  service  was  in  the 
native  language.  The  building  was  built 
of  wood,  the  timber  brought  from  the 
state  of  Washington,  the  roof  was  of 
corrugated  iron,  and  the  walls  had 
openings  for  windows  and  doors. 
These  spaces  are  for  air  and  light, 
and  are  never  closed.  A  curtain  is 
sometimes  hung  at  the  window  or  door 
of  the  house  to  exclude  the  sun,  but 
there  is  no  need  of  windows  or  doors 
here  to  exclude  the  cold  as  in  the  temper- 
ate zones.  There  were  no  chairs  or  seats 
in  the  entire  church.  All  sat  on  the  floor, 
which  is  of  cement,  on  mats.  We  were 
permitted,  out  of  courtesy,  to  stand,  for 
those  of  us  who  attempted  it  found  the 
Samoan  seats  hard  and  tiresome.    We 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      123 

were  greeted  with  great  courtesy  at  tlie 
close  of  the  service  by  the  clergyman,  the 
chiefs,  and  their  people. 

We  attended  several  dances  and  other 
native  entertainments  given  in  our  honor 
while  at  Pago  Pago.  The  native  Samo- 
ans  exhibit  even  more  emotion  and  ex- 
citement in  the  dance  than  the  North 
American  Indians.  They  generally  com- 
mence the  dance  while  in  a  sitting  pos- 
ture with  motions  of  the  head,  arms,  and 
body.  This  continues  with  an  increased 
energy  of  movement  until  the  actor 
springs  to  his  feet,  throws  off  gradually 
every  vesture  of  garment,  and  with  vio- 
lent gestures  of  arms,  head,  and  legs  goes 
through  the  wild  figures  of  the  native 
dance  to  the  music  of  native  instruments, 
accompanied  by  the  chant  of  the  dancer 
himsjlf ,  which  increases  in  strength  and 
volume  as  the  movements  of  the  dance 
become  more  rapid  and  violent,  until  at 
its  height  it  is  turned  into  an  orgie,  a 
wild  scene  of  gyrations  and  gesticula- 


124      MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

tions,  accompanied  by  barbaric  music 
and  demoniac  cries  and  yells.  The 
dancer  becomes  drunk  with  excitement, 
and  his  wild  tones  and  gestures  are  like 
those  of  a  drunken  man  or  maniac.  These 
dances  given  by  both  sexes  are  the  great 
native  attraction  and  are  always  among 
the  entertainments  extended  to  visitors 
to  these  islands. 

We  took  photographs  of  the  entire 
harbor,  and  Baron  Sternburg  made 
drawings  and  sketches  from  the  deck  of 
the  Badger  so  as  to  form  a  panoramic 
view  of  the  entire  inner  harbor,  exhibit- 
ing the  coast  line  with  the  steep  and  pre- 
cipitous mountain  approaches.  I  had 
these  photographed  also  and  sent  to  the 
Departments  of  State  and  Navy. 

From  Pago  Pago  we  returned  to  Apia, 
where  we  found  the  Governor  of  New 
Zealand  had  sent  up  to  us  the  fine  little 
coasting  steamer  called  ^^Tuetaneka," 
commanded  by  Captain  Post,  a  Connec- 
ticut boy,  for  the  use  of  the  Commission- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      125 

ers  in  visiting  the  smaller  harbors  of  the 
islands,  our  own  vessel  being  too  large 
to  make  the  smaller  islands  with  safety. 

We  celebrated  the  4th  of  July  in  Apia, 
offered  prizes  for  boat  racing,  etc.,  to 
contestants  from  the  various  vessels  in 
the  harbor,  kept  open  house  to  our 
friends  on  the  Badger,  and  exhibited  our 
patriotism  as  good  Americans  on  that 
day. 

On  Wednesday,  the  5th  of  July,  we  set 
sail  from  Apia  at  6  o'clock  a.  m.,  on  the 
Tuetaneka  for  Savaii,  and  landed  about 
noon  at  a  little  settlement  on  the  east 
side.  We  met  a  number  of  chiefs  and 
took  lunch  with  Rev.  Mr.  Sibrey,  a  mis- 
sionary residing  there  with  his  family, 
and  left  at  4  o'clock  p.  m.  for  the  north 
side  of  the  island,  the  harbor  of  Matau- 
tu,  where  the  Cormoran,  the  German 
cruiser,  brought  us  news  from  Apia.  The 
German  cruiser  Cormoran,  Capt.  Eisen- 
mann,  had  taken  the  place  of  the  cruiser 
Falke  at  Apia,  and  she  as  well  as  the 


126      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

Torch  and  Tuaranga,  English  cruisers, 
were  very  serviceable  in  acting  as  scouts 
for  the  Commissioners  among  the  var- 
ious islands.  At  Matautu  we  held  two 
*^fonos,"  one  for  the  chiefs  on  the  north 
and  the  other  for  those  on  the  south  side 
of  the  harbor.  Both  were  numerously 
attended,  and  the  natives  were  profuse 
in  their  gifts,  bringing  and  laying  at  the 
feet  of  the  Commissioners  cocoa  nuts, 
bananas,  flowers,  chickens,  pigs,  and  oth- 
er things  for  use  and  ornament,  to  refuse 
which  would  have  been  an  act  of  great 
discourtesy.  As  a  result  at  each  place 
we  visited,  sailors  carried  boat  loads 
of  such  presents  to  our  vessel.  These 
presents  were  often  of  great  value,  such 
as  mats,  carved  woods,  canes,  and  curios 
showing  the  skill  of  these  native  artists. 
The  Samoans  make  beautiful  mats  from 
the  fibres  of  plants  and  trees,  some  rang- 
ing in  value  up  to  hundreds  of  dollars. 
They  also  make  cloth  called  Tapa  from 
the  barks  of  trees,  which  by  pounding 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      127 

they  beat  into  a  uniform,  thickness  and 
from  which  they  make  their  loin  cloths, 
called  Lava  Lavas,  and  various  other 
garments. 

At  one  of  these  *^fonos"  natives  of 
the  two  factions  came  into  collision,  in 
their  zeal  to  be  first  in  offering  hospital- 
ities to  the  Commissioners.  One  man 
was  severely  injured  and  we  had  to  send 
him  to  the  hospital  at  Apia.  The  assail- 
ant was  afterwards  tried  and  punished 
by  the  Commissioners.  The  feeling  be- 
tween the  adherents  of  Tanu  and  Ma- 
taaf a  we  found  to  be  A^ery  tense,  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  different  tribes  told  us  that 
it  required  great  effort  on  their  part  to 
prevent  outbreaks  and  collisions  be- 
tween the  young  men  of  either  faction. 
We  were  very  much  interested  in  the 
native  games  which  were  played  for  our 
entertainment,  as  well  as  the  dances  and 
public  dinners.  At  the  dinner  given  at 
Matautu  the  Commissioners  were  served 
at  a  table  sufficiently  large  to  seat  the 


128      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

three  Commissioners  and  secretary,  and 
from  some  source  they  had  procured  a 
chair  for  each,  borrowed  probablj^  from 
the  homes  of  the  missionaries.  At  our 
request,  however,  the  dinner  was  served 
in  native  style,  all  the  dishes  and  viands 
were  brought  in  and  placed  upon  banana 
leaves.  The  roast  pig  was  brought  in 
whole  and  placed  in  the  center  of  the 
table,  while  the  chickens  and  vegetables 
were  placed  upon  separate  leaves,  and, 
with  vegetables  and  bread  fruit,  were 
all  served  in  a  single  course.  We  were 
at  first  perplexed  how  to  carve  or  serve 
pig  and  chickens  without  knives  or 
forks,  and  my  associates  began  to  reach 
for  pocket  knives  when  our  hostess,  who 
spoke  English  fluently,  offered  assist- 
ance and  immediately  pulled  a  leg  each 
from  the  pig  and  chickens  and  placed 
them  upon  the  banana  leaf  in  front  of 
each  Commissioner.  It  was  a  prunitive 
way  of  eating,  an  illustration  of  Dio- 
genes philosophy,  but  the  food  was  de- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      129 

licious  and  everything  about  the  room 
in  which  we  were  served  was  scrupulous- 
ly clean,  and  the  hostess  and  her  assist- 
ants were  as  polite  and  attentive  as  those 
in  modem  homes.  Our  appetites,  too, 
had  been  sharpened  by  the  ocean  air  and 
the  walk  from  our  vessel  which,  coupled 
with  the  novelty  of  the  service,  made 
this  dinner  in  the  Samoan  home  one  of 
the  most  delightful  I  ever  ate. 

From  Matautu  we  set  sail  for  the 
south  side  of  the  island  of  Savaii,  and 
on  Friday,  the  seventh  of  July,  met  the 
chiefs  of  south  Savaii  in  council.  Savaii 
is  not  so  thickly  inhabited  as  the  smaller 
islands  and  the  land  is  not  so  fertile.  It 
is  of  later  formation,  and  smoke  is  at 
times  seen  issuing  from  some  of  the 
higher  peaks.  One  of  these  mountains 
since  our  return  to  America  has  been  in 
a  violent  state  of  eruption. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  Fridav  we 

*/ 

left  the  island  of  Savaii  and  anchored 
for  the  night  off  the  small  island  of  Mo- 


130      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

nona,  where  next  day  we  held  a  meeting 
with  native  chiefs.  At  noon  we  left 
Monona  for  the  little  island  of  Apoliina, 
our  visit  to  which  I  have  elsewhere  de- 
scribed. Late  on  Saturday  afternoon 
we  left  Apolima  and  anchored  in  the 
little  harbor  of  Mulof  onnu,  on  the  island 
of  ITpolu.  The  little  islands  of  Apolima 
and  Monona  are  midway  between  the 
larger  islands  of  Savaii  and  Upolu,  and 
the  water  between  these  islands  and 
the  western  shore  of  Upolu  is  much 
of  the  way  very  shoal,  so  that  it 
would  have  been  difficult  for  us  to 
have  made  the  passage  in  the  Badger. 
We  found  the  little  Tuetaneka  very  con- 
venient in  enabling  us  to  cross  these 
shoaler  waters  and  to  enter  these  smaller 
harbors.  At  Mulof  onnu  we  received  an 
invitation  to  visit  the  German  planta- 
tion, which  has  large  buildings  and  ex- 
tensive works  at  this  point.  We  spent 
the  night  at  the  superintendent's  home 
and  were  pleasantly  entertained.    This 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      131 

is  principally  a  cocoanut  plantation,  and 
copra  is  the  chief  product  raised.  It  is 
for  the  most  part  kiki  dried,  and  is 
shipped  from  here  to  all  parts  of  the 
world.  The  work  is  done  by  blacks  from 
the  Caroline  and  Solomon  islands.  They 
are  brought  here  in  bands  under  three 
year  contracts,  and  are  re-hired  or  re- 
turned at  the  expiration  of  the  contract. 

On  Sunday,  the  9th,  the  superintend- 
ent furnished  us  horses  and  we  rode 
with  him  over  the  entire  plantation,  saw 
the  homes  of  the  natives,  kilns  for  dry- 
ing copra,  and  the  beautiful  cocoanut 
groves,  all  of  which  had  been  planted  by 
this  German  company.  On  Monday,  the 
10th  of  July,  we  anchored  off  the  little 
town  of  Lulumoenga  and  met  the  chiefs 
there  in  council  and  at  2  o'clock  p.  m. 
sailed  for  Apia,  and  at  night  went  on 
board  the  Badger,  which  seemed  like  re- 
turning home  again. 

On  Tuesday,  the  11th,  we  went  down 
in  our  own  vessel  to  Saluf  ata,  at  the  east 


132      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

end  of  Upolu,  where  we  met  the  chiefs  of 
the  eastern  islands,  among  them  Ma- 
taafa,  who  greeted  us  very  cordially. 
Here  we  were  treated  to  a  mimic  battle 
without  firearms,  in  which  the  contest- 
ants engaged  each  other  with  sticks  and 
stones,  and  at  the  close  of  the  engage- 
ment several  natives  dressed  up  in  comic 
uniforms  marched  past  the  Commission- 
ers singing, ' '  This  is  war  without  guns, ' ' 
^^What  has  become  of  our  guns?''  These 
people  are  great  comedians  and  have  a 
fund  of  humor,  which  develops  in  their 
songs  and  conversation. 

Still  east  of  Saluf  ata  we  held  another 
council  with  the  chiefs.  Here  in  conver- 
sation with  one  of  the  chiefs  Baron 
Sternburg  expressed  great  admiration 
of  a  kava  bowl,  which  was  very  finely 
carved  and  had  been  in  the  family  of  the 
chief  for  several  hundred  years,  and 
what  was  our  surprise  as  we  were  about 
embarking  to  see  the  chief's  young  men 
bringing  to  us  this  valuable  old  kava 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      133 

bowl.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to 
accept  it,  and  send  back  a  present  in  re- 
turn. It  is  a  custom  of  these  people,  if  a 
stranger  expresses  a  liking  for  an  article, 
to  make  a  present  of  it  to  him,  and  it  is 
an  insult  not  to  accept  it.  I  myself, 
however,  became  the  beneficiary  of  the 
baron's  admiration,  for  he  was  already 
the  possessor  of  a  fine  kava  bowl,  so  he 
generously  gave  me  the  new  acquisition 
which  I  brought  home  with  me  and  still 
have  among  my  curios  from  Samoa. 

On  Wednesday,  the  12tli  of  July,  we 
went  up  to  Malie  in  the  steam  launch 
belonging  to  the  Torch  and  held  another 
coimcil  with  the  chiefs  at  Affing,  and 
with  this  council  we  closed  our  tour  of 
the  islands. 

In  these  councils  we  met  nearly  all  the 
chiefs  of  the  islands  and  discussed  with 
them  the  form  of  government  best  suited 
to  their  needs,  and  invited  them  individ- 
ually to  meet  us  in  a  convention  to  be 
held  at  Apia  on  the  14th  of  July,  1899, 


.134      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

to  consider  and  ratify  a  form  of  tempor- 
ary government  for  the  islands  which  we 
had  outlined  and  nearly  perfected. 

On  the  14th  of  July,^  1899,  in  accord- 
ance with  our  invitation  nearly  every 
chief  on  these  islands,  over  400  in  num- 
ber, with  their  head  men  and  orators 
met  us  at  Mulinu  near  Apia  and  listened 
to  the  form  of  temporary  government 
we  had  formulated,  and  after  discussion 
of  the  same  by  their  orators  all  consented 
to  its  adoption  and  selected  the  twenty- 
six  head  chiefs,  thirteen  each  represent- 
ing the  adherents  of  Tanu  and  Mataaf  a, 
to  sign  the  same  for  the  Samoan  people, 
which  was  accordingly  done. 

WORK  OF  COMMISSION  COMPLETED 

Our  work  was  now  accomplished. 
The  natives  were  disarmed,  their  guns 
were  in  the  hold  of  the  Badger.  The 
King  had  resigned ;  the  office  was  abol- 
ished; and  a  white  man's  government 
was  substituted  in  its  place,  leaving  the 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      135 

chief  of  each  tribe  to  control  affairs  in 
his  own  locality  in  accordance  with  the 
customs  and  traditions  of  Samoa.  All 
this  had  been  accomplished  in  two  short 
months,  and  now  as  soon  as  the  officers 
under  the  new^  government  could  be  in- 
stalled we  were  ready  to  return  to  our 
homes. 

The  officers  under  the  temporar}^  gov- 
ernment had  to  be  selected  from  the 
consuls  and  others  there  acting  for  their 
govermnents.  This  was  accomplished 
after  some  diplomacy  and  discussion, 
leaving  the  three  consuls  of  England, 
Germany,  and  the  United  States  as  Com- 
missioners under  the  new  government, 
Mr.  Osborn  as  Chief  Justice,  and  Dr. 
Solf  as  President  of  the  Council,  and  on 
the  18th  of  July,  1899,  at  1  o'clock  p.  m. 
we  sailed  from  the  harbor  of  Apia  for 
San  Francisco  and  home. 

The  deck  of  our  vessel  was  filled  wdth 
native  chiefs  of  the  Tanu  and  Mataafa 
factions,  as  well  as  with  white  men,  of- 


136      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

ficials,  and  citizens  of  the  islands,  to  bid 
us  good-by,  and  we  were  assured  and 
reassured  by  these  native  chiefs  that 
they  and  their  people  would  forever  keep 
the  peace.  ^'We  will  see  to  it,"  as  the 
interpreter  laconically  interpreted  them, 
^Hhat  the  Commissioners  do  not  make 
fools  of  themselves  when  they  report  to 
their  governments  that  the  war  in  Sa- 
moa is  at  an  end,  for  we  will  make  their 
report  come  true." 

And  it  has  come  true.  The  war  in 
Samoa  ceased  when  the  natives  were  dis- 
armed, and  the  promises  made  by  these 
Samoan  chiefs  have  been  kept  to  the  let- 
ter. The  temporary  government  ratified 
by  the  Samoans  lasted  until  the  govern- 
ments of  England,  Germany,  and  the 
United  States,  adopting  the  report  of 
the  Commissioners,  divided  the  islands 
among  the  three  nations.  The  United 
States  took  Tutuila,  with  its  splendid 
harbor,  the  smaller  islands  near  it,  and 
the  remote  eastern  group  known  as  Rose 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      137 

islands.  Germany,  exchanging  some  in- 
terests in  Africa  with  England  for  her 
interests  in  Samoa,  succeeded  to  the  re- 
mainder of  these  islands. 

THE  SAMOAN  ISLANDS 

I  must  not  leave  these  beautiful 
islands  without  saying  something  of 
their  climate,  soil,  productions,  inhabi- 
tants, etc. 

The  Samoan  islands  are  a  volcanic 
group,  about  sixteen  in  number,  lying 
between  the  13th  and  15th  degrees  of 
south  latitude,  and  extending  in  a  north- 
westerly and  southeasterly  direction,  an 
approximate  distance  of  250  miles.  Sa- 
vaii,  the  most  westerly  as  well  as  the 
largest  of  the  group,  is  rectangular  in 
shape,  and  is  about  twenty-five  miles 
long  by  about  twenty  miles  wide.  Upolu, 
the  next  in  size,  is  about  twenty-five 
miles  long  with  an  average  width  of 
about  fifteen  miles.  Tutuila,  which  came 
to  us  in  the  division  of  the  group,  lies 


138      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

about  fifty  miles  southeast  of  Upolu  and 
is  about  seventeen  miles  long  by  three 
to  five  miles  wide.  Savaii  and  Upolu  are 
about  twelve  miles  apart,  and  between 
them  lie  the  small  islands  of  Apolima 
and  Monona,  and  adjoining  or  in  close 
proximity  to  the  larger  islands  of  Sa- 
vaii, Upolu,  and  Tutuila,  are  a  number 
of  other  small  islands,  most  of  which  are 
inhabited  and  from  which  to  the  larger 
islands  the  natives  go  and  come  in  large 
and  small  canoes.  The  islands  which 
came  to  us  by  the  treaty  following  the 
report  of  the  commission  are  Tutuila, 
with  the  small  islands  in  close  proximity, 
among  the  most  important  of  which  is 
Aunuu,  a  small  wooded  islet  near  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor  of  Pago  Pago ;  the 
Manua  islands,  a  small  group  three  in 

number  about  fiftv  miles  southeast  of 

*/ 

Tutuila,  consisting  of  Tau,  about  four 
by  three  and  one-half  miles  in  length  and 
width,  Olesega,  about  three  miles  long 
by  one-half  mile  wide,  and  Ofu,  a  mere 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      139 

islet ;  and  Rose  island,  a  mere  coral  reef 
about  seventy  miles  east  of  the  Manuas. 

DIVISION  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

These  three  groups  of  islands,  now 
under  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States,  are  separated  and  somewhat  dis- 
tant from  the  rest  of  the  Samoan  islands 
which  lie  in  compact  form  and  which 
now,  under  the  treaty  between  Great 
Britain  and  Germany,  belong  to  the  lat- 
ter government.  In  the  division  of  these 
islands  several  questions  arose  for  con- 
sideration by  the  governments  of  Great 
Britain,  Germany,  and  the  United 
States.  The  Germans  had  large  inter- 
ests in  the  island  of  Upolu ;  a  company 
of  Germans  had  invested,  manv  vears 
ago,  in  lands  on  the  island  of  Upolu,  and 
a  wealthy  German  corporation  known  as 
the  German  Company,  had  succeeded  to 
these  interests  and  was  still  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  and  export  of  copra. 
The  English  and  American  interests  in 


140      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

these  islands  were  small,  and  Germany 
was  therefore  naturally  desirous  of  pro- 
tecting the  interests  of  her  own  people, 
while  our  government  desired  to  obtain 
separate  and  independent  control  of  the 
harbor  of  Pago  Pago.  Great  Britain 
having,  therefore,  arranged  with  Ger- 
many to  take  certain  German  interests 
in  Africa  and  the  South  Seas  for  those 
in  Samoa,  it  was  not  difficult  to  make  di- 
vision of  the  islands  between  Germany 
and  the  United  States.  Ten  years  of 
annoyance  and  discord  in  attempting  to 
govern  Samoa  under  the  Berlin  Treaty 
had  demonstrated  the  fact  that  while 
a  great  government  may  be  able  to  gov- 
ern its  own  people  successfully  and  satis- 
factorily, three  great  governments  could 
not  so  govern  these  little  islands  of  the 
sea.  Questions  unlooked  for  and  unpro- 
vided for  in  the  treaty  were  continually 
arising,  and  the  representatives  of  one 
government  did  not  feel  able  to  deter- 
mine them  until  they  had  been  submitted 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      141 

to  and  ratified  by  his  own  and  each  of 
the  other  governments.  As  a  result, 
matters  pertaining  to  the  immediate  in- 
terests of  Samoa  were  often  held  in 
abeyance  for  long  periods  of  time  till 
the  home  governments  could  sanction 
and  approve,  and  not  unf requently  the 
little  partisan  and  natural  jealousies 
which  gave  coloring  to  the  question  in  its 
inception  and  determination  by  local  of- 
ficers accompanied  it  to  the  home  gov- 
ernment for  final  decision.  The  commis- 
sion, therefore,  upon  its  return  having 
unanimously  recommended  a  division  of 
the  islands  and  a  termation  of  the  tri- 
partite system  of  government  which  had 
existed  there  between  the  governments 
of  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  the 
United  States  under  the  Berlin  Treaty, 
the  three  nations  by  treaty  agreed  upon 
the  division  alreadv  named. 

Rose  island  and  the  Manuas  are  of 
little  value  to  the  United  States,  but  it 
was  deemed  better  that  they  should  not 


142      MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 

pass  into  the  hands  of  a  foreign  juris- 
diction. The  Manuas  claim  to  be  the 
cradle  of  the  Samoan  people.  They  are 
ruled  by  an  independent  chief,  and  cer- 
tain deference  is  paid  to  the  rulers  of 
these  little  islands  by  the  native  races  of 
the  others. 

The  Samoan  group  of  islands,  like 
most  of  those  of  the  South  Seas,  are  vol- 
canic in  character,  and  some  of  the  higher 
peaks,  as  we  have  elsewhere  said,  bear 
evidence  of  not  very  remote  eruption. 
The  later  formation  of  Savaii  is  shown 
by  want  of  the  decomposition  of  the  lava 
beds  and  less  density  and  size  of  its  for- 
est trees.  The  principal  plantations  are 
in  the  island  of  Upolu,  while  Savaii  is 
not  only  more  sparsely  settled  but  its 
soil  is  less  fertile  and  little  cultivated. 

The  illustration  is  frequently  used  of 
comparing  the  surface  of  these  islands  to 
a  hat,  the  center  being  represented  by  the 
crown,  and  the  level  and  fertile  land  by 
the  rim.    A  better  illustration  would  be 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      143 

a  succession  or  row  of  hats  whose  crowns 
would  represent  the  continuous  and  suc- 
cessive peaks  and  having  one  continuous 
rim  at  the  bases  thereof,  extending  from 
the  almost  perpendicular  sides  of  the 
mountains  out  on  the  coral  reef  to  the 
water's  edge.  This  fringe  of  fertile  land 
varies  much  in  width  in  the  different 
islands  and  in  parts  of  the  same  island. 
In  places  the  shore  comes  in  near  the 
base  of  the  mountain,  and  in  other  places 
there  is  a  wide  belt  of  level  or  compara- 
tively level  land,  the  slope  being  gradual 
from  the  mountains  to  the  sea.  The 
islands  bear  evidence  of  having  been  up- 
lifted from  the  sea  by  sudden  or  succes- 
sive volcanic  action,  and  at  the  time  of 
such  upheaval  the  sides  of  the  mountains 
where  they  approach  the  sea  must  have 
presented  the  same  perpendicular  char- 
acter below  its  surface,  as  they  still  pos- 
sess above,  and  it  is  believed  that  to  the 
little  coral  insect  we  are  indebted  for  this 
tributary  of  fertile  land  that  fringes  all 


144      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

the  islands  of  the  South  Seas.  This  reef 
attaches  to  the  mountain's  side  at  the 
water's  edge  and  extends  down  distances 
of  undetermined  depths  while  in  width 
it  reaches  out  sometimes  for  miles  into 
the  ocean  itself;  upon  this  shelf  thus 
formed  the  debris  from  the  mountains 
brought  down  by  the  rains  and  elements, 
has  found  a  place  of  deposit,  and  as  the 
level  land  thus  formed  has  extended  it- 
self the  little  insect  has  continued  to 
extend  his  wall  of  defense  still  further 
and  further  into  the  sea.  So  that  sur- 
rounding each  island  of  this  group,  es- 
pecially Upolu,  will  be  found,  out  beyond 
its  level  land,  a  quiet  lagoon  of  water 
extending  from  a  few  rods  to  several 
miles  in  width  and  varying  in  depth  from 
a  few  inches  to  ten  and  twelve  feet.  The 
base  and  sides  of  this  lagoon  are  solid 
coral  reef,  firmly  attached  to  the  shore 
and  extending  down  to  an  unknown 
depth.  The  outer  edge  next  the  sea  is 
higher  than  the  floor  of  the  lagoon,  and 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      145 

presents  to  the  breakers  of  the  ocean  an 
impregnable  bulwark  against  their  as- 
sault upon  the  shore.  The  harbor  of 
Apia,  in  which  we  were  anchored  a  great 
portion  of  the  time  during  the  months  of 
June  and  July,  1899,  is  but  an  opening 
in  the  coral  reef,  the  walls  of  which  at 
its  entrance  are  not  a  great  distance 
apart.  We  were  generally  anchored  out 
a  mile  and  a  half  or  two  miles  from  shore, 
and  the  coral  reef  at  the  entrance  of  the 
harbor  extended  out  beyond  us  for  per- 
haps a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a  half  more. 
We  could,  therefore,  from  our  vessel's 
deck  observe  this  channel  of  quiet  water 
for  a  long  distance  up  and  dowTi  the 
northern  shore  of  the  island.  It  was  the 
great  highway  for  native  canoes.  Nearly 
all  the  travel  in  Samoa,  even  from  one 
part  of  the  island  to  another,  is  by  boat. 
And  at  night,  as  in  Venice  you  listen 
from  your  hotel  to  the  song  of  the  gon- 
dolier, so  in  Samoa  we  listened  from  our 
vessel's  deck  to  the  music  of  the  oars 


146      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

and  the  chant  of  Samoan  songs.  This 
begins  with  the  setting  sun  and  extends 
far  into  the  cloudless  moonlight  night. 
There  are  scarcely  any  roads  and  few 
well  traveled  paths  across  these  islands. 
This  safe  and  quiet  waterway  furnishes 
a  shorter  and  more  convenient  means  of 
communication  from  one  projecting 
point  of  the  island  to  another  than  any 
transit  across  even  the  level  land. 

This  quiet  lagoon  of  water  furnishes, 
too,  not  only  a  highway  for  the  people 
but  it  is  the  fishing  ground  of  the 
islands.  Marvelous  tales  are  told  of  the 
quantity  and  variety  of  fish  that  are  here 
captured  by  net,  spear,  and  hook.  Every 
morning  at  sunrise  you  can  see  hundreds 
of  these  fishermen  in  boats  and  on  foot 
gathering  in  their  day's  food  from  the 
sea.  But  for  this  sea  wall  erected  about 
these  islands,  their  soft  and  porous 
shores  and  mountain  sides  would  soon 
disappear  by  the  constant  erosion  and 
avulsion  of  the  sea.    The  violent  waves 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      147 

and  breakers  come  from  the  north  and 
west,  and  they  beat  upon  the  outer  wall 
of  the  coral  reef  with  a  deafening  roar, 
sending  foam  and  spray  high  into  the 
air.  Prom  the  deck  of  our  vessel  this 
dashing  of  the  waves  upon  the  outer  reef 
sounded  like  the  roar  of  the  falls  upon 
the  near  approach  to  Niagara,  and  when 
the  sea  was  running  high  and  these  great 
waves  struck  with  terrific  force  upon  this 
wall  of  rock,  throwing  their  foam  and 
spray  high  into  the  air  against  the  glit- 
tering sun,  and  the  echoes  of  their  ex- 
pended force  resounded  along  the  shore, 
like  distant  thunders  of  the  storm,  the 
scene  was  one  to  inspire  admiration  and 
awe,  and  it  required  no  further  exhibi- 
tion of  its  powers  to  convince  the  be- 
holder of  what  old  ocean  could  do  when 
angered  by  contending  winds  or  lashed 
into  fury  by  the  gale.  It  was  but  ten 
years  ago  in  this  same  harbor  that  six 
vessels  of  war  were  destroyed,  three  Am- 
erican and  three  German.     The  storm 


148      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

came  from  the  north  and  west  and  di'ove 
them  upon  the  reefs,  crushing  and  break- 
ing them  like  shells  upon  their  ragged 
and  jagged  points.  All  were  broken  and 
shapeless  wrecks  except  one  poor  ves- 
sel which  foundered  and  disappeared 
under  the  shelving  coral  reef,  never  to  be 
seen  or  heard  of  more.  The  fragments 
of  the  wreck  of  the  wooden  vessels, 
among  them  the  Trenton,  then  one  of  the 
finest  vessels  of  the  American  navy,  have 
been  gathered  up  and  no  trace  of  the 
wreck  can  now  be  seen,  but  the  skeleton 
of  the  iron  vessel  Adler,  of  the  German 
navy,  and  one  of  the  finest  of  its  time, 
still  lies  rusting  upon  the  reef  well  in 
toward  the  shore  of  the  harbor  of  Apia, 
a  sad  monument  to  the  brave  sailors  who 
perished  here.  Seamanu,  chief  at  Apia 
who  has  recently  died,  never  tired  of  ex- 
hibiting to  us  the  medal  awarded  him  by 
our  government  for  his  bravery  in  sav- 
ing the  lives  of  American  seamen,  and 
in  telling  of  the  thrilling  adventures  con- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      149 

nected  with  that  event.  The  English 
man-of-war  had  steam  up  when  the  hur- 
ricane broke  and  immediately  stood  out 
to  sea  and  alone  of  all  the  fleet  escaped. 

These  islands  are  subject  to  severe 
storms  during  the  hurricane  season  of 
December,  January,  and  February,  and 
in  recent  years  vessels  remaining  in  these 
waters  during  those  months  generally 
seek  our  safe  and  secluded  harbor  of 
Pago  Pago,  which,  being  located  upon 
the  south  side  of  the  island  and  protected 
by  a  reentrant  and  narrow  entrance,  is 
safe  against  hurricanes  or  any  storms 
of  the  sea. 

Many  of  the  mountain  peaks  of  these 
islands  are  flat  or  hollowed  at  the  top, 
showing  forms  of  extinct  craters,  and  the 
higher  elevations  are  broken  by  precip- 
itous chasms  and  deep  canons  so  that 
their  ascent  is  difficult  and  often  danger- 
ous. The  area  of  these  islands  is  esti- 
mated to  be  about  820,000  acres,  or  less 
than  the  state  of  Rhode  Island  and  not 


150      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

greater  in  extent  than  some  of  the  larger 
counties  of  the  states.  No  survey  has 
ever  been  made  of  the  land,  so  that  the 
estimate  may  be  only  approximately 
correct.  Of  this  area  the  greater  por- 
tion is  mountains  and  high  precipitous 
bluffs,  so  that  perhaps  not  one-third  of 
the  entire  surface  can  ever  be  success- 
fully cultivated.  The  mountains  and 
other  portions  of  these  islands  where  not 
cultivated  are  covered  with  dense  forests 
overgrown  by  tropical  vines  and  filled 
with  an  undergrowth  of  knitted  shrubs 
and  vines,  producing  a  shade  so  dark 
and  dense  as  never  to  be  penetrated  by 
even  the  piercing  rays  of  a  tropical  sun. 

CLIMATE  OF  OUR  SAMOAN  POSSESSIONS 

The  thermometer  ranges  from  70  to 
90  degrees  Fahrenheit,  very  rarely  fall- 
ing below  the  former  and  rarely  rising 
above  the  latter  degree.  The  atmos- 
phere, however,  is  humid  and  the  same 
degree  of  temperature  there  is  much 


MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA      151 

more  oppressive  than  in  the  rarer  and 
drier  atmosphere  of  the  temperate  zone. 
In  all  tropical  climates  there  is  no  twi- 
light of  the  rising  or  setting  sun.  The 
rising  sun  bursts  forth  with  full  force  of 
light  and  heat,  with  no  warning  of  ap- 
proaching dawn,  and  immediate  dark- 
ness marks  its  descent  beneath  the  line 
of  the  western  sky.  The  coolest  period 
of  the  day  is  from  three  to  five  in  the 
morning,  and  the  hottest  from  ten  in  the 
forenoon  to  four  in  the  afternoon.  The 
days  and  nights,  as  everywhere  near  the 
equator,  are  of  about  equal  length.  The 
winter,  which  is  summer  north  of  the 
equator,  is  the  pleasantest  season  of  the 
year.  The  summer,  January,  February, 
and  March,  is  the  period  of  rains  and 
storms.  Hurricanes  are  not  infrequent, 
but  cyclones  and  thunderstonns  are 
never  known.  The  rainfall  is  said  to 
reach  as  high  as  166  inches  for  the  season. 
The  climate  is  enervating.  It  affects  all. 
Not  only  the  natives,  but  the  honey  bee 


152      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

declines  to  work.  The  members  of  the 
commission  arose  generally  at  three 
o'clock  a.  m.,  took  a  sea  bath,  a  cup  of 
coffee  and  a  piece  of  toast,  and  then 
worked  until  breakfast  at  eight  o'clock, 
by  which  time  they  had  completed  their 
labors  for  the  day,  and  like  the  natives, 
sought  rest  in  the  shade.  The  water, 
fresh  from  the  mountains,  is  said  to  be 
good,  but  becomes  impregnated  with  ma- 
laria in  the  sluggish  streams  and  pools. 
We  used  water  distilled  from  the  sea, 
with  ice  manufactured  on  board  ship. 
The  climate  is  free  from  epidemics  such 
as  cholera,  small  pox,  yellow  fever,  bu- 
bonic plague,  etc.  Consumption,  how- 
ever, contrary  to  general  belief,  is  of 
common  occurrence  among  natives  and 
foreigners  alike.  There  are  many  dis- 
eases which  seem  to  be  indigenous  to  the 
climate,  the  most  loathsome  of  which  is 
elephantiasis.  It  is  generally  confined 
to  the  natives,  but  white  residents  have 
contracted  it  after  long  residence  there. 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      153 

It  generally  attacks  the  limbs  of  the  vic- 
tim and  the  leg  or  arm  swells  to  an  enor- 
mous size  and  assumes  a  dark  purple 
color.  It  is  extremely  painful,  but  the 
sufferer  sometimes  lives  many  years  and 
often  dies  of  an  intervening  disease.  It 
attacks  some  gland  of  the  body  and  oc- 
casionally assumes  the  form  of  a  tumor, 
which  deformity  sometimes  reaches  an 
enormous  size  and  a  weight  exceeding  a 
hundred  pounds.  The  physicians  there 
attribute  the  cause  to  a  microbe  believed 
to  be  found  in  stagnant  water  which  finds 
lodgment  in  the  stomach  and  then  in 
some  gland  or  tissue  of  the  body.  It  is 
deemed  by  physicians  there  to  be  incur- 
able, though  cases  have  been  reported 
where  the  surgeon  by  the  use  of  the  knife 
has  successfully  removed  portions  of  the 
adipose  tissue  of  the  afflicted  limb,  re- 
ducing it  in  size  and  relieving  the  suf- 
ferer of  much  intense  pain.  The  tumors 
have  in  many  cases,  when  not  connected 
with  vital  organs,  been  successfully  re- 


154      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

moved.  Deep  seated  ulcers,  abscesses, 
and  cutaneous  diseases  are  among  the 
more  common  on  these  islands.  Longev- 
ity is  much  less  than  in  the  temperate 
zone.  The  native  is  old  at  sixty  years, 
and  rarely  attains  the  age  of  seventy- 
five.  The  death  rate,  as  given  by  our 
consul-general,  Mulligan,  is  seventy-five 
in  the  thousand,  while  that  given  as  the 
highest  in  our  own  country,  at  New  Or- 
leans, is  26.37,  at  Washington  22,  at 
Cincinnati  20.06,  and  at  Chicago  17.5. 

NATIVES  OF  THE  ISLAND 

The  estimated  native  population  is 
about  35,000.  It  is  slowly  decreasing, 
which  seems  to  be  the  destiny  of  the  bar- 
barian race  at  the  approach  of  civiliza- 
tion. They  are  Polynesian  in  type  and 
among  the  finest  specimens  of  their  race, 
tall,  large,  and  muscular,  with  a  dignity 
and  presence  that  w^ould  become  nobility 
and  excite  the  envy  of  the  stage.  They 
are  all  members  of  some  church;  about 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      155 

27,000  are  Congregationalists  and  Meth- 
odists, about  7,000  are  Catholics,  and  the 
remainder  are  Mormons  and  members  of 
other  sects.  The  missionaries  estab- 
lished churches  here  very  early,  about 
1840,  and  their  work  has  been  successful 
and  its  results  of  great  benefit  to  these 
people.  Nearly  every  native  can  read 
and  write,  and  the  people  are  generally 
moral  and  temperate  in  their  habits  of 
life.  A  recent  history  of  the  Polynes- 
ians, written  by  W.  D.  Alexander,  of 
Honolulu,  claims  Samoa  to  be  the  cradle 
of  the  race ;  that  the  natives  of  New  Zea- 
land, Hawaii,  and  the  intermediate 
islands  of  the  South  Sea  are  their  off- 
spring. But  whether  they  be  the  parent 
or  offspring  of  the  race,  it  is  true  that 
the  Samoans  retained  their  independ- 
ence to  the  last  and  have  become  subject 
to  no  foreign  power  until  the  recent 
treaties  that  in  form  have  transferred 
their  allegiance  to  Germany  and  the 
United  States.    All  the  other  islands  of 


156      MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

Polynesia  except  Hawaii  long  ago  be- 
came subject  to  some  foreign  govern- 
ment. 

The  Samoans  are  passionate  and  emo- 
tional, not  sullen  or  revengeful.  Their 
government  is  patriarchal,  and  the  chief 
succeeds  by  heredity.  The  title  of  King, 
as  has  been  already  said,  is  of  modern 
origin,  and  was  the  cause  of  much  of  the 
internal  dissension  between  the  tribesi 
The  chief  is  the  supreme  ruler,  and  con- 
trols the  people  and  the  property  of  the 
tribe.  Fines  imposed  for  crime  are  paid 
by  the  tribe,  so  that  imprisomnent,  which 
must  be  personal,  is  the  only  punish- 
ment which  the  native  Samoan  fears. 
They  are  very  fond  of  titles,  and  are 
great  sticklers  for  rank  and  caste.  It  is 
said  at  public  gatherings  called  '^fonos" 
they  will  wrangle  for  days  to  determine 
who  is  entitled  to  speak  first.  In  drink- 
ing kava,  the  great  national  drink,  at 
public  festivities  it  is  a  mortal  offense 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      157 

for  one  lower  in  rank  to  accept  and  drink 
before  all  above  him  have  been  served. 

The  chiefs  and  nobility  speak  a  dif- 
ferent language,  one  which  is  not  under- 
stood by  the  ordinary  native,  though  the 
chiefs  themselves  can  speak  and  under- 
stand the  language  of  the  common 
people.  At  one  of  the  meetings  of  the 
Commissioners  the  interpreter  informed 
us  that  he  did  not  imderstand  a  word  the 
chief  was  saying ;  that  he  was  speaking 
in  the  language  of  the  nobility  which  he 
could  not  interpret.  The  interpreter 
was  told  to  inform  the  chief  that  he  must 
address  the  Commissioners  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  common  people,  which  he 
did,  and  it  was  readily  interpreted. 

The  nobility  look  upon  the  common 
people  with  disdain  and  contempt,  and 
it  is  regarded  as  a  mark  of  great  disre- 
spect for  one  of  the  common  people  to 
pass  the  house  of  a  chief  with  covered 
head  or  with  an  umbrella  raised.  They 
will  not  work,  and  the  labor  on  the  great 


158      MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

German  plantations  is  done  by  blacks 
brought  from  the  Solomon  and  adjacent 
islands.  They  are  very  fond  of  fishing 
and  sometimes  gather  copra  and  sell  to 
the  merchants,  but  will  rarely  consent  to 
any  employment  as  hired  laborers  what- 
ever compensation  may  be  allowed. 

They  build  splendid  boats  and  operate 
them  with  great  skill.  Those  in  which 
they  visited  the  Commissioners  were 
built  by  the  natives  themselves;  some 
have  awnings  and  a  raised  deck  and  are 
propelled  by  eighty  or  one  hundred  oars 
and  capable  of  carrying  from  two  hun- 
dred to  three  hundred  and  fifty  men. 
They  are  entitled  to  inherit  the  name 
^^ Navigators,"  which  was  given  to  these 
islands  at  an  early  day  and  by  which 
they  are  still  called. 

The  Samoans  are  natural  orators; 
they  love  nothing  better  than  discus- 
sion, which  is  often  exciting  and  pro- 
longed at  the  tribal  fonos  where  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  the  tribe  are  con- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      159 

sidered  and  determined.  The  orator 
stands  in  front  of  his  party  or  tribe  and 
leans  on  a  long  staff  or  ^Halking  stick,'' 
with  the  fua  (a  tuft  of  horse  hair  or 
fibre  attached  to  a  handle  used  to  brush 
flies  from  the  person)  thrown  across  the 
left  shoulder,  and  in  a  chanting  tone, 
sometimes  rising  into  a  loud  and  em- 
phatic one,  he  presents  his  views  for  or 
against  the  proposition  before  them. 
They  are  more  oratorical  than  argumen- 
tative in  the  presentation  of  their  case, 
and  they  say  many  flowery  and  pretty 
things  that  would  seem  to  have  little 
bearing  upon  the  question  itself.  And 
they  leave  one  subject  and  go  to  another 
without  any  continuity  of  expression  or 
thought.  The  orator  or  talking  man  in 
every  tribe,  who  is  generally  of  some  dis- 
tinguished family,  has  great  influence, 
sometimes  but  little  inferior  to  that  of 
the  chief  himself. 

They  are  very  hospitable.      In  ev- 
ery village  is  a  guest  house,  at  which 


160      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

every  person,  Samoan  or  foreigner, 
is  entertained  free  of  charge,  and  by 
a  law  of  the  tribes  each  Samoan  who 
has  of  taro,  pigs,  chickens,  etc.,  more 
than  is  necessary  for  his  immediate  use, 
must  divide  his  store  with  any  poor  rel- 
ative who  may  need  his  help.  There  is, 
therefore,  little  inducement  to  the 
Samoan  to  accumulate  more  than  is 
necessary  for  his  immediate  wants. 

The  soil  is  decomposed  lava.  It  is  fer- 
tile but  easily  exhausted;  it  can  not  be 
cultivated  as  in  the  temperate  zones. 
Plows,  cultivators,  and  other  kinds  of 
farm  machinery  are  unknown  upon  the 
islands.  The  hoe,  spade,  and  iron  bar 
are  implements  of  husbandry.  Where 
upon  the  surface  the  lava  would  seem  to 
be  disintegrated  and  decomposed  it  will 
be  found  that  beneath  the  surface  and  too 
near  it  to  permit  the  use  of  the  plow,  are 
masses  of  porous  but  still  undecomposed 
lava.  These  are,  however,  so  soft  and 
filled  with  interstices  as  to  permit  of  the 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      161 

growth  of  fruits  and  shrubs  and  in  places 
of  vegetables  as  well. 

The  vegetables  of  the  temperate 
zone,  such  as  potatoes,  cabbage,  etc., 
are  rarely  attempted  to  be  grown  here. 
They  grow  to  enormous  size  but  are 
woody,  coarse,  and  fibrous,  as  well  as 
insipid  in  taste;  vegetables  eaten  by 
the  white  people  are  1:)rought  from 
New  Zealand  and  Australia  or  in  cans 
from  the  States.  Taro  and  yams,  a  kind 
of  turnip  beet  or  potato,  are  grown  here 
in  abundance.  They  are  eaten  by  the 
natives  and  sometimes  by  the  whites. 
They  are  unlike  anything  found  in  the 
temperate  zone  and  when  cooked  in  the 
native  ovens  with  fruit  and  meats  are 
sometimes  palatable. 

Fruits  of  all  kinds  and  most  delicious 
in  flavor  are  found  here  in  great  abun- 
dance. Among  them  are  cocoanuts, 
oranges,  limes,  lemons,  figs,  vies,  man- 
goes, pomegranates,  bread  fruit,  ba- 
nanas, pineapples,  citrons,  guavas,  croc- 


162      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

odile  pears,  custard,  and  mummy 
apples,  etc.,  but  no  apricots,  peaches, 
pears,  apples,  plums,  or  other  fruits  of 
the  temperate  zone. 

The  cocoanut  tree  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  found  on  these  islands.  The 
tree,  as  in  other  tropical  countries,  has 
a  straight  slender  body  with  no  limbs 
or  foliage  except  at  the  top.  It  begins 
its  growth  as  a  branching  shrub;  each 
year  it  throws  out  new  branches  and 
leaves  at  the  top  like  a  tuft  or  plume  and 
those  of  the  previous  year  fall  off,  leav- 
ing an  indentation  in  the  body  of  the  tree, 
and  as  each  year's  growth  adds  to  its 
height  the  indentations  caused  by  the 
decay  and  dropping  of  the  branches 
of  the  preceding  years  clearly  mark  its 
age,  and  furnish  a  kind  of  ladder  into 
which  the  Samoan  boy  places  his  bare 
feet  and  ascends  the  tree  with  the  same 
facility  that  one  of  our  expert  electric 
men  ascends  the  telephone  poles  with  his 
iron  heels.    The  nut  or  fruit  is  at  the  top 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      163 

of  the  tree,  and  there  are  always  to  be 
found  on  the  same  tree  and  at  the  same 
time  blossoms,  green,  and  ripe  fruit. 
The  expert  climber  ties  his  legs  with  a 
strip  of  sennet  (a  kind  of  rope  woven 
from  the  cocoanut  husk)  of  such  length 
as  allows  the  foot  to  reach  the  indenta- 
tion next  above  that  in  which  the  other 
already  rests,  and  as  these  steps  are  uni- 
form in  distance  the  measured  length  of 
his  fetters  supports  each  foot  and  en- 
ables him  to  ascend  with  great  rapidity 
and  select  the  nut  already  ripe  and  fit  for 
copra.  For  export  the  fruit  must  have 
fully  matured  and  have  absorbed  the 
milk  of  the  nut,  but  for  use  as  food  the 
natives  gather  them  when  less  matured, 
and  of  the  soft  unripe  pulp  of  the  nut 
make  some  delicious  kinds  of  food  called 
palusami,  while  the  milk  affords  one  of 
the  most  palatable  and  delicious  drinks. 
The  tree  is  of  slow  growth,  and 
matures  so  as  to  commence  bearing  in 
from  six  to  eight  years.    It  grows  to  a 


164      MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

height  of  sometimes  seventy  or  eighty 
feet,  and  lives  to  a  great  age.  The  tim- 
ber is  open  and  porous,  but  it  is  of  that 
spongy,  corky  character  which  stops  the 
native  bullet  or  arrow,  and  is  accordingly 
made  use  of  in  the  erection  of  native 
forts,  while  the  husk  and  fibre  of  the  nut 
make  a  coarse,  strong  twine  called  sen- 
net, much  used  by  the  natives  in  fasten- 
ing the  roofs  of  their  houses  and  the  ribs 
of  their  boats.  The  leaves  also  form  a 
thatch  for  their  houses.  They  are  of  a 
resinous  character  so  that  they  make  a 
brilliant  light,  and  are  much  used  in 
a  kind  of  brazier  at  night  by  fishermen 
along  the  shore.  The  mature  nuts  are 
carried  in  baskets  to  places  where  the 
meats  are  dried  by  exposure  to  the  heat 
of  the  sun  or  in  rainy  weather  in  kilns 
or  ovens  heated  by  burning  leaves  and 
trunks  of  trees.  The  meat  of  the  cocoa- 
nut,  thus  dried,  becomes  an  article  of 
commerce  known  as  copra,  and  is 
shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world ;  of  the 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      165 

exports  from  Samoa,  $254,630  in  1894, 
$248,570  was  copra.  The  cocoanut  loves 
the  sea ;  it  is  ahnost  its  native  element. 
The  nuts  float  long  distances  and  are 
often  lodged  upon  distant  islands  and 
there  propagate  and  form  forests  where 
none  had  ever  existed  before.  They  love 
the  shore,  and  whenever  a  tree  is  found 
it  is  always  reaching  out  its  arms  and  ex- 
tending its  body  towards  the  sea.  The 
trees  near  the  coast  are  found  to  be  more 
thrifty  and  productive  than  those  dis- 
tant from  the  shore.  The  plantation 
managers  have  learned  this  habit  and 
affection  of  the  cocoanut  for  the  sea,  and 
they  now  fertilize  the  soil  remote  from 
the  shore  by  pouring  about  the  trees 
large  quantities  of  water  from  the  sea. 
On  the  German  plantation,  much  the 
largest  on  the  islands,  the  trees  are  set 
thirty  to  forty  feet  apart  and  are  culti- 
vated so  as  to  keep  the  ground  free  from 
weeds  and  shrubs.  It  is  much  work  to 
excavate  for  the  young  trees;  the  lava 


166      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

being  coarse  and  undecomposed  resists 
the  spade  and  bar,  but  when  the  tree  is 
once  in  place  its  roots  run  down  into  the 
porous  soil  and  find  nourishment  and 
support  in  what  would  seem  a  barren 
rock. 

The  bread  fruit  tree  is  most  highly 
prized  by  native  Samoans.  It  has  a 
beautiful  foliage  and  is  valuable  as  a 
timber,  while  its  fruit,  which  is  both  a 
fruit  and  vegetable,  is  indispensable  to 
the  native.  He  gathers  it  and  cooks  it 
with  other  native  fruits  and  vegetables 
in  earthen  ovens,  and  in  large  quantities 
he  buries  it  in  pits  or  cavities  made  in 
the  earth,  until  it  ferments.  These  pits 
are  then  opened  and  the  gases  which  are 
very  nauseating  and  offensive  are  per- 
mitted to  escape.  The  residuum  becomes 
a  kind  of  dough.  It  is  then  gathered  up 
and  baked,  and  forms  a  wholesome  and 
nourishing  food.  It  is  the  native  bread 
and  is  a  staple  article  of  daily  food.  The 
banana,  next  to  the  bread  fruit,  becomes 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      167 

a  necessity  in  tiie  Samoan  home.  He  eats 
it  morning,  noon,  and  night.  He  eats  it 
cooked,  and  he  eats  it  raw.  He  feeds  it 
to  his  pigs  and  chickens,  and  if  he  has  a 
cow  she  rivals  himself  in  appreciation 
and  consmnption  of  this  delicious  and 
nutritious  fruit.  Bananas  grow  every- 
where with  and  without  cultivation. 
They  are  the  finest  and  cheapest  in  the 
world,  great  bunches  selling  from  five  to 
fifteen  cents.  They  grow  on  plants  fif- 
teen to  twenty-five  feet  in  height  and  are 
much  improved  by  cultivation.  They 
rapidly  exhaust  the  soil  and  should  not 
be  permitted  to  be  grown  upon  the  same 
land  for  more  than  two  or  three  years  in 
succession. 

Cotton  was  cultivated  to  some  extent 
during  the  high  prices  of  the  Civil  War, 
but  its  cultivation  has  since  been  aband- 
oned. Experiments  were  made  with 
coffee  by  the  German  Company  and  a 
large  plantation  at  Vailele,  near  Apia, 
was  planted.    At  first  it  seemed  to  thrive 


168      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

and  gave  promise  of  success,  but  later 
the  plants  were  attacked  by  the  Ceylon 
disease  and  a  large  portion  was  cut  down 
and  destroyed;  a  small  portion  of  the 
original  setting  remains,  but  it  is  not  be- 
ing extended.  The  berry  of  this  coffee 
is  small,  but  its  liquid  is  of  a  delicious 
flavor,  equal  to  the  best  grades  of  Java 
and  highly  appreciated  by  residents  and 
visitors  of  these  islands. 

Some  success  has  been  attained  in  the 
cultivation  or  production  of  cocoa,  from 
which  nut  the  various  forms  of  chocolate 
are  obtained.  The  trees  are  healthy  and 
the  nut  is  abundant  and  of  good  form  and 
quality,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  ex- 
periment may  ripen  into  success. 

Sugar  cane  is  said  to  thrive,  but  the 
rocky  character  of  the  soil  makes  its 
cultivation  difficult,  so  that  no  sugar  is 
produced  upon  these  islands.  Indian 
corn  is  also  said  to  grow  to  great  size  and 
to  mature  here.  But  for  the  same  reason 
it  can  not  be  cultivated  to  any  extent. 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      169 

Tobacco  is  grown  in  a  small  way  by  the 
natives  for  their  own  use;  smoking  is 
universal  with  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. The  native  smokes  vigorously  a 
long  cigarette  rolled  from  a  banana  leaf, 
and  when  tired  sticks  it  behind  his  ear, 
as  the  shop  girl  does  her  pencil,  to  be 
used  again  at  his  pleasure.  Tobacco, 
tied  up  in  small  bundles  of  three  to  five 
pounds  in  weight,  is  often  used  as  a  cur- 
rency in  native  traffic.  It  is  not  of  su- 
perior quality  and  is  little  used  except 
by  natives.  There  is  considerable  tim- 
ber on  the  islands,  but  for  the  most  part 
it  is  high  up  the  mountains  and  in- 
accessible by  present  methods  existing 
here.  It  is  wholly  unlike  anything  found 
in  the  temperate  zone.  The  visitor  to 
these  tropical  islands  does  not  at  first 
realize  the  change  from  his  northern 
home.  He  sees  the  same  sun  above  him, 
the  clouds  and  sky  not  unlike  those  of  a 
summer 's  day  in  his  own  land.  The  con- 
tour of  the  distant  mountains,  hills,  and 


170      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

valleys  are  not  different  in  their  land- 
scape from  those  many  views  to  be  seen 
in  the  mountain  regions  of  the  temperate 
zone,  and  the  mountain  streams  and  riv- 
ulets dash  on  down  to  the  sea  with  the 
same  glee  and  glad  sparkle  of  sunshine 
as  in  the  milder  climates  of  the  north. 
It  is  only  by  closer  inspection,  by  anal- 
ysis of  the  panorama  about  him,  that  he 
becomes  conscious  that  he  is  in  another 
and  strange  land.  The  grass  at  his  feet 
is  unlike  anything  he  has  ever  seen ;  the 
first  shrub  or  tree  upon  which  his  eye 
rests  is  unlike  anything  in  his  native 
land.  He  recalls  the  names  of  the  forest 
trees,  the  beech,  the  mai)le,  the  elm,  and 
others  with  which  he  has  been  familiar 
from  childhood;  not  one  is  to  be  seen; 
each  tree  or  shrub  is  unfamiliar  in  form 
and  name.  He  is  in  another  land,  in 
another  zone.  Among  the  trees  of  larger 
size  is  the  iron  wood,  from  which  the 
natives  make  canes,  war  clubs,  kava 
bowls,  etc.    It  is  a  hard,  firm  wood,  of  a 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      171 

dark  mahogany  color,  and  almost  as 
heavy  as  ebony,  and  admits  of  a  polish 
almost  equal  in  character.  There  are 
many  varieties  of  trees,  bearing,  how- 
ever, only  native  names,  and  outside  of 
the  nut  and  fruit  varieties  they  are  little 
known  or  used  even  by  natives  them- 
selves. They  are  generally  short,  knot- 
ted, and  not  well  suited  for  timber.  All 
the  building  materials  used  on  the  island 
are  brought  from  other  countries,  large- 
ly from  the  Pacific  states. 

The  native  houses  are  generally  ellip- 
tical in  form  and  are  constructed  by 
setting  posts  firmly  in  the  ground,  about 
six  or  eight  feet  apart,  around  the  outer 
edge.  These  posts,  which  are  about  six 
to  eight  feet  high,  support  the  roof,  which 
is  the  great  architectural  work  of  a  Sa- 
moan  house.  It  is  a  perfect  truss  roof 
of  elliptical  form,  resembling  on  a 
smaller  scale  that  of  the  great  Mormon 
tabernacle  at  Salt  Lake.  It  takes  weeks 
and  months  to  construct  one  of  these 


172      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

roofs,  and  with  new  thatching  it  lasts  for 
many  years.  It  is  constructed  of  bent 
timbers  brought  to  perfect  form  and  held 
in  place  by  fastenings  of  sennet,  and  the 
entire  work  is  so  interlaced  and  inter- 
woven as  to  present  a  wonderfully  artis- 
tic as  well  as  unique  design.  Over  this 
framework  are  laid  many  thicknesses  of 
thatch  to  make  it  impervious  to  rain, 
which  is  the  only  element  against  which 
a  Samoan  architect  has  to  contend.  This 
roof  is  so  strong  and  compact  that  it  can 
be  raised  from  the  posts  on  which  it 
rests  and  transported  by  boat  or  over- 
land to  any  part  of  the  island,  and  it  is 
no  unusual  sight  to  see  the  Samoan 
transporting  his  house  on  one  or  several 
boats  from  the  place  where  it  was  built 
to  some  other  part  of  the  island  under 
control  of  the  same  tribe.  The  inner 
house  is  one  entire  room.  To  the  posts 
are  fitted  mats  as  curtains,  which  are 
arranged  to  raise  or  lower  with  the 
course  of  the  sun,  those  to  the  east  being 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      173 

drawn  down  in  the  morning  and  those 
to  the  west  as  the  sun  descends.  The 
posts  and  curtains  form  the  entire  walls 
of  the  house.  The  floor  of  the  house  is 
generally  a  beautiful  concrete,  made  by 
mixing  pounded  coral  and  sand,  forming 
a  beautiful  and  perfect  cement.  Into  this 
when  soft  they  sometimes  press  pebbles 
and  different  kinds  of  stones,  which 
they  grind  down  with  rock.  The  com- 
bination makes  a  beautiful  tessellated 
floor,  and  this  is  always  kept  scrupu- 
lously clean  and  neat.  There  is  no  fur- 
niture in  a  Samoan  home,  no  tables,  no 
chairs,  no  beds.  They  sit,  eat,  and  sleep 
on  mats.  These  mats,  some  of  which  are 
very  beautiful  and  sell  sometimes  for 
himdreds  of  dollars,  are  made  of  the  na- 
tive fibres,  obtained  from  native  trees  and 
shrubs.  The  Samoan  sits  on  his  mat  like 
the  tailor  upon  his  bench,  and  sleeps  upon 
the  hard  stone  floor  with  nothing  beneath 
but  a  single  mat.  The  mat,  too,  is  the 
Samoan  table.    All  sit  to  eat  around  the 


174      MY  TEIP  TO  SAMOA 

mat,  upon  which  are  placed  the  dainty 
viands  —  roast  pig,  duck,  chicken,  fruit, 
and  vegetables  served  on  banana  leaves. 
There  are  no  dishes,  knives,  or  forks. 
The  master  of  the  family  pulls  out  a 
limb  from  the  well-done  fowl  or  pig  and 
distributes  it  to  the  members  of  the  fam- 
ily, while  a  single  cocoanut  cup  filled  with 
kava,  tea,  or  coffee  furnishes  the  drink 
for  all.  Everything  is  scrupulously 
clean,  and  the  food  is  generally  well 
cooked  and  good.  Kava  is  the  native 
drink.  It  is  produced  from  the  dried 
root  of  a  native  tree.  It  is  astringent  in 
taste,  not  pleasant  to  the  novice,  but  it 
leaves  an  agreeable  after-taste.  It  is  not 
intoxicating,  though  some  one  has  said 
that  ^*  while  it  does  not  affect  the  head  it 
tangles  the  heels. ' ' 

The  favorite  brewing  of  kava  consists 
in  having  the  kava  root  chewed  by  some 
young  and  beautiful  girl  of  the  family  or 
tribe.  Having  chewed  and  ground  the 
root  into  minute  particles  she  expector- 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      175 

ates  it,  mouthful  after  mouthful,  to  the 
required  amount  into  the  kava  bowl,  an 
immense  circular  wooden  bowl  from  ten 
to  thirty  inches  in  diameter,  supported 
by  from  three  to  ten  or  twelve  wooden 
legs,  dug  out  and  carved  from  the  iron- 
wood  in  one  single  piece.  Some  of  these 
kava  bowls  are  very  old,  handed  down 
from  father  to  son.  They  are  to  them  al- 
most priceless  in  value.  Another  native 
beauty  brings  water  in  a  cocoanut  shell 
and  pours  upon  the  ground  kava  while  a 
third  kneads  the  substance  with  her 
hands  to  extract  from  it  the  quality 
which  forms  the  drink.  When  this  is 
done  one  of  the  maidens  with  a  wisp  of 
cocoa  fibre  strains  the  residuum  by 
drawing  the  fibre  rapidly  and  frequently 
through  the  liquid.  The  kava  is  then 
ready  to  be  served,  which  is  done  by  some 
designated  person  who  knows  the  rank 
of  each  guest  and  to  whom  the  cup  is  to 
be  passed  in  turn.  As  the  Commission- 
ers were  treated  as  guests  and  superior, 


176      MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA 

therefore,  in  rank  to  their  hosts,  they 
fortunately  had  the  privilege  of  being 
the  first  to  drink  from  the  cup,  and  as  a 
further  mark  of  deference  and  native 
delicacy,  in  this  instance  the  root  was 
pounded  in  their  presence  instead  of  be- 
ing ground  in  the  usual  way.  Some  of 
my  associates  affected  a  partiality  for 
kava,  but  I  must  confess  I  should  not 
prefer  it  as  a  common  drink. 

The  Samoan  for  the  most  part  does 
his  cooking  in  ovens  constructed  by 
digging  holes  in  the  ground  and  encas- 
ing them  with  rock  in  which  he  builds  a 
fire  of  cocoanut  leaves  and  branches  un- 
til the  rocks  are  heated  to  nearly  a  white 
heat.  The  ashes  and  brands  are  then 
removed  and  the  food  to  be  cooked  is 
placed  therein  and  coA^ered  over  with 
branches  of  trees,  leaves,  and  earth  and 
so  remains  until  it  is  completely  cooked. 
In  these  ovens  are  placed  chickens, 
young  pigs,  taro,  guavas,  pineapples, 
and  various  fruits  to  give  flavor  to  the 


MY  TRIP   TO   SAMOA      177 

food,  and  when  the  covering-  of  the  oven 
is  removed  the  meats  and  vegetables  are 
found  to  be  delicious  in  flavor  and 
cooked  to  the  taste  of  the  most  fastidious. 
They  resemble  very  much  those  deli- 
cious foods  that  used  to  come  from  the 
brick  ovens  of  New  England  mothers  on 
Sunday  mornings.  The  young  pig  of 
four  or  six  weeks  old  is  a  dainty  dish 
with  the  Samoan,  and  it  comes  before 
the  guest  fresh  from  the  oven,  standing 
upon  its  four  feet  well  stuffed  with  some 
admixture  of  fruit  and  vegetables  and 
holding  in  its  mouth  some  delicious  vie 
or  other  choice  fruit  with  which  these 
islands  abound. 

MEMOIUES  OF  STEVENSON 

The  Samoans  are  a  very  interesting 
people  and  we  spent  several  delightful 
months  among  them.  Like  all  emotional 
people,  they  like  their  friends  and  hate 
their  enemies.  They  were  very  fond  of 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  and  when  he 


178      MY  TEIP  TO  SAMOA 

built  Ms  splendid  home  on  the  island  of 
Upolu,  back  some  three  miles  from  Apia, 
these  natives,  who  refuse  to  work  for 
remuneration,  built  and  constructed  for 
him  a  road  from  the  city  to  his  home  for 
love,  and  to  this  day  it  is  called  by  them 
the  ^^Eoad  of  the  Loving  Heart."  It 
was  a  herculean  task  to  cut  a  roadway 
through  this  dense  forest  and  jungle 
and  to  smooth  the  surface  so  that  horses 
and  carriages  could  drive  from  the  shore 
to  his  home.  Poor  Stevenson;  he  was 
beloved  by  all  who  knew  hinx,  the  savage 
and  civilized  alike.  He  built  here  a 
splendid  home,  hoping  in  this  mild  and 
genial  climate  to  mend  the  feeble  body 
always  too  weak  for  the  brave,  ambitious 
soul  it  contained.  It  was  not  to  be.  The 
slender  thread  of  life  parted,  and  that 
brilliant  mind  lives  today  only  in  the 
creations  it  has  made.  His  body  lies  en- 
tombed at  the  top  of  the  rugged  moun- 
tain that  overlooks  his  home.  It  was 
carried  on  native  backs  to  the  final  rest- 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      179 

ing  place.  The  tomb  was  fashioned  and 
molded  from  native  cement  by  native 
hands,  and  every  day  these  native 
mourners  climb  the  mountain's  rugged 
side  and  place  fresh  flowers  upon  his 
grave.  No  monarch  ever  received 
greater  honors  than  those  accorded  him 
by  these  native  chiefs,  and  no  memory 
remains  brighter  in  the  minds  of  civ- 
ilized men  than  that  of  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  in  the  hearts  and  souls  of 
these  simple  native  Samoans.  Pomp 
and  display  are  not  emblems  of  sorrow ; 
and  wealth  alone  can  not  honor  the  dead. 
The  burial  of  Stevenson  w^as  free  from 
both,  but  the  honor  accorded  him  was  in 
the  genuine  sorrow  of  these  simple 
people,  so  evident  at  his  death,  and  in 
which  they  still  so  genuinely  cherish  his 
memory.  He  is  dead,  but  he  lives  not 
alone  in  the  works  of  liis  genius  but 
in  the  songs  and  traditions  of  this  loving 
race,  and  every  night  can  be  heard  from 
the  canoes  that  glide  along  the  shore 


180      MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA 

songs  in  praise  of  Tusitala,  as  they  called 
him  in  their  native  tongue.  The  home 
has  passed  into  stranger's  hands,  but  it 
is  ever  open  to  pilgrims  who  visit  at  his 
shrine.  The  house  was  struck  several 
times  by  shells  from  our  fleet  during  the 
war  between  Tanu  and  Mataafa,  not 
intentionally,  but  in  shelling  the  forts 
and  troops  of  the  insurgent  chiefs  one 
shell  went  quite  through  the  house,  but 
without  bursting  or  injuring  seriously 
its  walls.  One  of  our  party,  Dr.  Norton, 
from  the  Badger,  was  so  fortunate  as  to 
pick  up  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  home 
a  stray  leaf  from  the  manuscript  of 
Treasure  Island^  w^hich  he  naturally  ap- 
preciated highly.  The  house  was  vacant 
when  we  were  there.  The  family  had 
gone,  and  Stevenson's  personal  effects 
had  been  removed.  A  portion  of  his  li- 
brary, however,  had  been  sold  and  we 
were  able  to  pick  up  some  of  the  books 
which  he  had  used. 


MY  TRIP  TO   SAMOA      181 

Our  visit  to  Samoa  was  one  of  the 
most  interesting  events  of  my  life  and  I 
shall  ever  recall  my  mission  to  these 
people  as  one  of  the  most  memorable  and 
pleasant  undertakings  of  the  past. 

Our  voyage  home  was  pleasant  and 
uneventful.  Sir  Charles  Eliot,  the  Brit- 
ish Commissioner,  did  not  return  with 
us  but  went  to  Australia  to  visit  a  sister, 
but  Baron  Sternburg  and  my  secretary, 
Mr.  Morgan,  returned  with  me  on  the 
Badger.  We  spent  a  few  days  at  Hon- 
olulu in  returning,  and  then  made  direct 
for  San  Francisco.  Sir  Willam  Van 
Home  sent  his  private  car  to  meet  us 
and  in  it  we  made  a  delightful  trip  to 
St.  Paul.  After  spending  a  day  with 
Senator  C.  K.  Davis  at  St.  Paul  the 
party  made  a  visit  to  my  home  in  Yank- 
ton, where  the  commission  separated, 
each  to  make  his  individual  report  to 
his  gOA^ernment  and  to  take  up  new  mat- 
ters in  the  great  affairs  of  life. 

Good-by,  Samoa ;  I  hope  to  visit  you 


182      MY  TRIP  TO  SAMOA 

again  while  I  still  remember  the  actors 
and  events  of  the  past. 


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